Beauty of Earth

Top 5 Coolest Things In Space

2009-04-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

Since day one, at least day one of human existence, we’ve looked to the stars and beyond, and in them we’ve found faith, dreams, inspiration, direction, and love. From our scriptures to NASA and from the moon to Mars, we’ve searched for answers about ourselves and things far greater. Unfortunately, with modern urbanization, and its corresponding light pollution, it has become increasingly difficult to enjoy space in all its glory.

This pollution is precisely why we’re thankful for the spectacular photos taken by such photographic astronomers as David Malin. He, along with Phaidon Press, has put out a book (Ancient Light: A Portrait of the Universe) that features a number of his black and white works and includes such cool things in space as star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and much more.

For our purposes, we’ve gleaned five cool things in space from Malin’s book based on their proximity to Earth and their general popularity within human society (meaning you might have heard of the phenomenon).

5.Halley’s Comet

Distance from Earth: 0.000000474 light years (closest approach)

Many of us remember Halley’s Comet’s last approach in 1986, and if you were young at that time you may have yet another chance within your lifetime to see this phenomenon; the next scheduled passing is in 2061. Since Halley’s Comet’s first observation in 240 BC (and being recognized as a periodic comet -- arriving every 75 to 76 years -- in the 18th century), the ’86 passing was the least spectacular due to urban light pollution. In fact, the light pollution was so bad that many amateur astronomers were forced to travel to the southern hemisphere if they hoped to catch a glimpse of one of the most accessible cool things in space. Despite the handicaps provided by modern civilization for terrestrial-bound persons, space programs throughout the world literally reached for the sky as they sent a number of probes (nicknamed the Halley Armada) into space. These probes managed to capture the first images of Halley’s Comet’s nucleus and an ultraviolet space telescope helped Soviet scientists put together a model of Halley’s Comet.

What might surprise us the most is that while Halley’s Comet appears bright and shiny from our perspective on Earth, it’s actually black as coal and only reflects about 4% of the sun’s light. Another surprise is its small size; the nucleus of Halley’s Comet is only 15 kilometers long, 8 kilometers wide and about 8 kilometers thick, however, the coma stretches back about 100 kilometers.

4.The Helix Nebula

Distance from Earth: 700 light years

As the closest bright planetary nebulae to Earth, the Helix Nebula provides plenty of great photo ops from the Hubble telescope and other ground-based telescopes. The Helix Nebula, part of the Aquarius constellation, was first discovered around 1824 by Karl Ludwig Harding, but it wasn’t till about 2003 when this phenomenon received its “Eye of God” nickname. If this were truly the Eye of God, its proximity to us makes total sense since there aren’t many parents who don’t want to keep close tabs on their depraved children.

The Helix Nebula is named as such because, from our earthly position, it appears that we are looking down a helix, the shape of a cross-section of DNA. The Helix Nebula is a planetary nebula and its core will eventually become a white dwarf star. It’s also this central core that glows and causes the light show in the surrounding gases.

3.The Eagle Nebula

Distance from Earth: 7,000 light years

The Eagle Nebula is interesting not only because you can see its brightest star with a good pair of binoculars, but also because in 2007 scientists discovered evidence that led them to believe a nearby supernova destroyed the distinctive Pillars within the Eagle Nebula some 6,000 years ago; however, the light that will reveal the new shape won’t reach Earth for another 1,000 years.

Another interesting aspect of Eagle Nebula, which is part of the Serpens constellation and was discovered in 1745-’46 by Jean-Philip de Cheseaux, is the fact that there is a whole open cluster of bright blue stars being formed.

2.The Witch Head Nebula

Distance from Earth: 1,000 light years

The Witch Head Nebula, which looks like a right-facing profile of a witch, is located near what’s likely the most recognizable constellation to most people -- Orion. Although it’s officially a part of the Eridanus constellation, it is Orion’s Rigel star (located at the bottom right corner of Orion) that illuminates the Witch Head Nebula. The Witch Head Nebula appears blue due to the combination of Rigel’s blue color and the dust within the nebula’s cloud that reflects blue light better than red (it’s the same physical process that causes the Earth’s daytime sky to appear blue).

1.The Horsehead Nebula

Distance from Earth: 1,500 light years

Another space phenomenon found in the Orion constellation (to the right of the left-most star in Orion’s belt) is the Horsehead Nebula. First seen in 1888, the Horsehead Nebula is part of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex and is a dark cloud of swirling dust that blocks the light from the bright red emission nebula behind it. Bringing the Horsehead Nebula down to Earth, South Park’s character, “Biggest Douche in the universe,” was from this randomly formed cloud.

10 Animals Being Used for Human Entertainment

2009-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

This is a list of animals that are being used for our entertainment against their free will. They are held captive and used to perform tricks for greedy profiteers.

Monkeys

Monkeys are the most used animal for human entertainment, they are trained to perform tricks for passers by on streets in nearly every country in the world. Most of these performing monkey's are being treated well for their acts but some are not. Monkey's are more entertaining in the wild, to see a monkey in its natural habitat is one of the worlds greatest wonders. To watch them performing in the streets to earn some profiteer some money is cruel. Monkey's adapt to their surroundings and if they are taken out of the trees and brought to the busy streets to perform, they do adapt. They will learn that they must perform for food, in the wild all they have to do for food is pick it up. These people strip the monkey from the monkey and program its brain to dance for food. Monkey's are usually a placid animal but they are unpredictable in behaviour, they can become dangerous when you least expect it. Most of the monkey's that perform end up losing the plot and turn vicious and could attack at any time.

Bears

The mighty Bear is one of the worlds biggest animals, they are a lot more dangerous than the monkey. These animals are kept in cages and on a chain and some never see the sight of freedom ever. All bears kept in such poor conditions go crazy they turn inwards. To see a bear that has turned inside itself is the most heart breaking things you could see in your life. Their handlers whip and beat them if they do not perform, the bear doesn't get angry because mentally the bear has given up on life knowing that there is nothing left but to perform. This activity has been banished from the Eastern world but is still being used as a method of entertainment in India, China and other countries with little or no animal rights.

Snakes

Cobras are the most likely snake to be used for human entertainment all over Asia. The snake charmers take the snakes and make them perform for money. In parts of Asia this is a trade passed down from generation to generation. Snakes are blind, they don't see like we do they work off heat patterns, the snake charmers fool the snake by agitating it waving their hands around its head until it strikes, or spits its venom. These snakes are suppose to use these skills for hunting not performing. They also use these snakes for fighting each other and they take bets on which type of snake will beat the other. Most species of snakes are used for this type of entertainment. The fights always end up in a fight to the death. In the wild they learn to keep their distance from each other to live in harmony. In an instance like this they are put in a ring with no escape one dies and one leaves the ring until the next time it is used for the same purpose.

Cocks

Cock fights are well known all around the world and there are cock rings in every country. Profiteers take bets on which cock will prevail, most of these fights are to the death, if they don't die in the fight they will have to be killed afterwards because of the wounds they sustain from the winner of the battle. Cocks are a farm animal and they will fight each other to rule the roost, but on a farm there is plenty of room for the smaller cock to evade the bigger one, and keep out of its way. In the ring surrounded by humans that are cheering the fight, there is no where for the loser to run to, it is caged by the people that would gladly see the stronger one finish the losing one off.

Dogs

The loyal friend of man is being used for dog fighting rackets, just as the cock they take bets on the winner. The dog fights are more vicious, they rare the dog to be angry and vicious, and throw it into a ring with another like trained dog. The wounds suffered in these fights are truly horrific and usually result in the dog being put down. People stand and watch as the two dogs rip and tear lumps off each other, I don't know how a human could just sit back and watch something that is so cruel. These dogs are trained their whole lives for the sole purpose of fighting and they know no different. Even when these dogs are rescued from their trainers they will have to be put down anyway because of their temperament.

Horses

Horses are used in every country of the world for entertainment, horses run that's what they love doing. Weight restrictions and such laws have been passed to ensure cruelty is not being imposed, but there are fatalities in horse racing and if a horse breaks its leg it has to be destroyed. The jockey on the horses back often whips the horse to complete a race at full speed, some times the horse exhausts it efforts and the jockey still whips it to get the last bit of energy out of it. In the wild or in the fields the horse will simply just stop when it gets to tired, it does not have such a luxury in the height of a race, where the jockey and trainer want to push it to earn maximum profits.

Tigers

Tigers are being used in the circus to perform tricks for their food. These are often trained from a young age and they live their life traveling from one town to the next. They are kept in cages and like prisoners in a jail they get out once or twice to walk around and exercises and the they are back in their cages until it is time to perform. Tigers are natives of jungles and here they come and go as they please, climb trees and hunt for their food. These animals have never seen freedom or know what it is like to be an actual tiger, their brain has been altered to be a performer instead of the tiger, if this was done to a person it would be a crime.

Elephants

Elephants are used as tools in India, they do a lot of construction work for the Indian people but they are treated as elephants would be in the wild. They are given the same rights as an Indian worker would be and they do not have cages to keep them in an area. Elephants are pretty smart and they will form a friendship with humans as long as they are being treated right. In the circus they do not have these privileges, they may be confined to a small patch of land and they travel for miles in the back of a truck

every few days. They are used for performing tricks in the big ring. Elephants are able to travel miles everyday in the wild but in the wild they are not confined by a cage on a truck. They get mentally effected over long periods same thing different town, they will spend most of their life in the circus and will never see the freedoms that they were born to see.

Dolphins

Dolphins are native to the seas of the world and you wouldn't expect to see them anywhere else in the world. They are being used for human entertainment in aqua parks across the globe, these parks are for one purpose only to generate profit for their owners. Here you pay a fee to see dolphins perform tricks for treats, they have a cage of water keeping them from the freedom of the open sea. Dolphins in the wild live in family groups of up to 50 individuals, to keep a dolphin by itself in captivity could mentally destroy the animal, that is why they keep them in twos or threes in these parks. Most of these dolphins have been plucked from the ocean and put in these parks for entertainment, the dolphins that have been born in captivity will never know what it is like to experience the ocean currents or to follow a boat or jump along in front of a ship.

Killer Whales

You wouldn't think that whales would be held in captivity because of their sheer size, well in America they have built a big enough tank to hold two against their will. Instead of hunting at the Artic Circle with their other whale buddies they are in Florida performing tricks in a huge fish tank for the public. These whales are as smart as the dolphin and elephant, but yet they are reduced to performing tricks for food. Keeping any of these animals in captivation is against Gods will, this doesn't matter what God you believe in or whether you believe in one or not. It is wrong by any stretch of an imagination and should be stopped.

Iceland’s Gorgeous Passive Solar Hof House

2009-04-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Deep in the northern chill of Iceland, just outside the arctic circle, the Hof House sits snugly within its landscape. Built on an existing estate, Studio Granada Architects salvaged whatever materials possible from the site to be incorporated into the new residence, converting telegraph poles into a sun screen and basalt pillars into stepping stones. Even the grass on the green roof came from local site leftovers after clearing way for its foundation. Designed for the extreme weather conditions of the Skagafjörður Fjord, the Hof House relies on passive solar design, geothermal heating, and some pretty hefty concrete walls.

The Hof House’s exterior cedar walls hug the massive concrete structural walls and will age gracefully with the passing seasons. The hexagonal shape formed by slices of the salvaged basalt pillars are repeated inside, bringing a continuity of design from the outside in. Geothermal heating comes up from the ground, warming the stone floors and providing heat and electricity throughout the house. The remaining energy needs are sufficed by hydroelectric power. The windows are oriented to not only capture the Southern sun, but also to create a frame for the magnificent surroundings of the cliff islands of Drangey and Málmey and the hills of Þórðarhöfði.

Studio Granada’s Hof House has been nominated for and awarded myriad prizes for its design, including the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture: the Mies van der Rohe Award for 2009.

Thailand's Phi Phi Islands

2009-04-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

Thailand's Phi Phi Islands — Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Leh — sit off the Andaman Coast, offshore from the town of Krabi. This area was hit hard by the devastating 2004 tsunami, but tourists have returned to this breath-taking mix of jungle and translucent water. L.A. Times staff photographer Wally Skalij captured the spirit of island life while vacationing there last year.

Water: Ko Phi Phi Don
Earth: Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Leh
Water: Low tide on Ko Phi Phi Don
Earth: Deep jungle on Ko Phi Phi Don
Water and earth: Small islands surround the Phi Phi Islands
Water: A water taxi on Laem Ton Beach, Ko Phi Phi Don
Earth: Monkey Beach on Ko Phi Phi Don
Water: Flowers on water on Phi Phi Don
Earth: Sunset on Ko Phi Phi Don
Water: A beach view from Ko Phi Phi Don

US birds in 'widespread decline'

2009-03-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Almost one third of the 800 species of birds found in the US are "endangered, threatened or in significant decline", a report has concluded.

Described as the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, the study listed habitat loss and invasive species as being the main threats.

But where conservation measures had been taken, some bird populations had shown signs of recovery, it added.

The US State of Birds report was commissioned by President Bush in 2007.

It was compiled by a partnership of organisations, including the US Geological Survey and the American Bird Conservancy, from three long-running bird censuses stretching back 40 years.

Habitat concerns

One of the key findings was that more birds were at risk in Hawaii than anywhere else in the US.

"Habitats such as those in Hawaii are on the verge of losing entire suites of unique bird species," warned David Pashley, American Bird Conservancy's vice president.

As a result of the encroachment of human activities, nearly all of the bird species on the Hawaiian Islands were in danger of extinction unless urgent conservation measures were implemented.

"In addition to habitat loss, birds also face many other man-made threats, such as pesticides, predation by cats, and collisions with windows, towers and buildings," Dr Pashley added.

The report also found that at least 39% of ocean bird species were declining, and about half were of "conservation concern".

It also highlighted that half of coastal migrating shorebirds had declined, "indicating stress in coastal habitats besieged by development, disturbance and dwindling food supplies".

The researchers said it indicated deteriorating conditions and that effective "management policies and sustainable fishing regulations were essential".

But the report also presented evidence that populations of birds recovered quickly when conservation measures were taken.

The data revealed "dramatic increases" in wetlands species, such as pelicans, herons, egrets, ospreys and ducks.

"These results emphasise that investment in wetlands conservation has paid huge dividends," observed Kenneth Rosenberg, director of conservation science at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

"Now we need to invest similarly in other neglected habitats where birds are undergoing the steepest declines."

Robotic Pollution Fish

2009-03-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

A robotic fish designed by UK scientists is the latest tool in the fight against water pollution. The robotic fish are designed to swim independently via wireless technology in seas, ocean, rivers and lakes to detect sources of pollution.

As part of a three-year research project funded by the European Commission and organized by BMT Group Ltd, an engineering and risk management consultancy, the carp-shaped robotic fish will be used to detect pollution in the port of Gijon in northern Spain.

Five of the robotic fish are currently being designed and built by Professor Huosheng Hu at the School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex.

Each robotic fish costs £20,000 to make and will measure 1.5 metres (1.6 yards) in length (roughly the size of a seal) and swim at a maximum speed of about one metre (1.1 yards) per second. The fish are expected to mimic the movements of real fish and will be equipped with small chemical sensors to locate potentially hazardous pollutants in the water.

The robotic fish are designed to transmit information to a central hub via wireless technology. The fish will also return to the hub to recharge their batteries. The transmitted information will enable authorities to map in real time the source and scale of the pollution.

Unlike previously designed robotic fish that work with remote controls, the WIFI fish will have autonomous navigation capabilities, allowing the robotic fish to swim independently without human interaction. The robotic pollution finding fish are expected to be in use by the end of next year.

Fruit Picker Killed In Komodo Dragon Attack

2009-03-30T11:28:00.001-07:00

Muhamad Anwar was attacked on Komodo, one of three islands in eastern Indonesia where the endangered giant reptile is found in the wild.

The incident happened minutes after the 31-year-old fell out of a sugar apple tree, police sergeant Kosmas Jalang said.

Mr Anwar was left bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after the two waiting dragons attacked.

He died at a clinic on the neighbouring island of Flores soon afterwards, his neighbour Theresia Tawa said.

Attacks on humans by Komodo dragons are rare but appear to have increased in recent years.

An eight-year-old boy died after being mauled in 2007, while a park ranger survived a similar attack last month.

The latest mauling came as a zoo in Indonesia celebrated the birth of 32 Komodo dragons.

All of the babies hatched in the last two weeks, while another 14 eggs are still incubating at Surabaya Zoo.

Spokesman Agus Pangkat said it was the Komodo's most successful breeding year at the zoo.

Komodo dragons can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh as much as 150 pounds.

Four seal species in danger of slipping away

2009-03-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

As Canada kicks off its controversial seal hunting season this week, several species of seals around the world face uncertain futures.

In Finland, the Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida saimensis), one of the world's few freshwater seals, is likely to become extinct in a few years, according to the Finnish natural resources agency, Metsähallitus. Its population has dropped to just 260 due to "warmer winters, drownings of seals caught in fishnets and traps, and the dispersed nature of the seals themselves," The Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reports.

Saimaa ringed seals form dens in snow and ice. In warmer winters, those dens melt, exposing young seals to the elements before they have had a chance to acquire their protective layers of fat. Lack of snow and ice also leave them exposed to fishermen, who sometimes kill them to prevent them from competing for their catch.

Disappearing ice is also becoming a problem for Baltic ringed seals (Phoca hispida botnica). "Climate models predict that the ice on the Baltic Sea will decrease by 50 to 80 percent by the end of the century," Antti Halkka, chair of WWF Finland's seal unit, told the Finnish news service YLE Uutiset. Like the Saimaa ringed seal, Baltic ringed seal pups live in ice dens where they are protected from predators and icy waters and fed by their protective mothers. Last year, according to WWF Finland, more than half of Baltic seal pups born in three of their four habitats died because ice levels were too low.

Another freshwater seal, Canada's Lac des loups marins harbour seals (Phoca vitulina mellonae), could soon become listed as an endangered species in Canada, according to a report in The Nunatsiaq News. There are just 100 to 600 of these rare seals left (although most scientists believe the number is closer to the lower end of that range), and according to documents at the government's Species At Risk Public Registry website, planned hydroelectric plants on the seals' home lakes would result in the "disappearance of under-ice shelters and ice-free zones, changes in the availability of prey and mercury contamination."

One seal species that doesn't rely upon ice is the Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi). But that doesn't mean it is less endangered. Research by Jennifer Schultz, a doctoral candidate at the Department of Zoology and Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at University of Hawaii, Kaneohe, shows that Hawaiian monk seals face a genetic bottleneck, with the lowest genetic diversity of any mammal species ever studied. According her paper, published in the January-February 2009 issue of Journal of Heredity, this increases the risk that the species could be wiped out by disease. As to what caused this lack of genetic diversity, Schultz's DNA tests revealed that all existing monk seals are probably descended from as few as 23 individual seals after the species was hunted to near-extinction in the Nineteenth Century.

Meanwhile, despite protests by many conservation and animal-rights organizations, Canada's seal hunt continues, with an increased government-set quota of 338,000 baby harp seals (Phoca groenlandica). According to The Canadian Press, about 9,500 seals were killed on Monday, the first day of the season. Harp seals aren't endangered -- in fact, an estimated 6.5 million of them live in Canada -- but many believe this hunt will not put the species on good footing for the future.

"The last time Canada allowed this many seals to be killed, the harp seal population was reduced by as much as two thirds within a decade," Rebecca Aldworth, director of the Canadian branch of Humane Society International, said in a statement.

Those fighting the seal hunts -- who say the hunting techniques are inhumane and that there is no real economic market for the seal furs -- did gain some support in recent weeks: Russia has decided to ban the hunting of baby seals, and the European Union is considering a ban on trade in products made from seals.

Triumph of the bumbarrel

2009-03-30T11:19:00.000-07:00

One of Britain's most charming small birds, once known as the bumbarrel, has entered the garden birdwatch top 10 for the first time. The tiny long-tailed tit is so small – the tail is longer than the body – that it is very vulnerable to cold weather. In harsh periods as many as 90 per cent may die.

However, the recent run of mild winters (with the exception of 2009) has produced a population boom, and in this year's Big Garden Birdwatch, run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the long-tailed tit was the 10th commonest bird seen in gardens across the country – almost double the previous number.

During the weekend of 24 and 25 January, more than half a million people took part in what is thought to be the biggest natural history mass-participation exercise in the world, observing their gardens for an hour and recording all the birds that visited. This was a week before Siberian weather conditions hit Britain – and may also have hit long-tailed tits, to an extent which is not yet known.

During the observation weekend, the birds were very much in evidence, numbers having nearly doubled from 2008. An average of 1.34 long-tailed tits were seen per garden, compared with 0.71 per garden last year. They are typically seen in small foraging parties.

In Birds Britannica, Mark Cocker writes that "outside the breeding season they rove through their communal territory enveloped in a perpetual cocoon of soft, bubbling contact notes". When a party flew off, he said, "they resemble a succession of whirring sticks with globular, pink ping-pong ball foreparts".

More than 552,000 people took part in the survey this year – a record number – counting over 8.5 million birds, with a total of 73 species recorded in 279,000 gardens across the UK. The house sparrow retained its top spot for the sixth year running, with an average of 3.70 seen per garden. The starling, a former number one, came second with an average of 3.21 per garden. The blackbird completed the podium spots with 2.84 per garden.

Although remaining at the top of the list, both house sparrow and starling have suffered huge declines since the survey began 30 years ago, the former going down by 63 per cent, and the starling by 79 per cent. Ten sparrows were seen per garden in 1979, compared with 3.70 this year, while 15 starlings were seen in gardens 30 years ago, compared with only 3.21 in 2009.

All the other birds in the top 10 – blue tit, chaffinch, woodpigeon, collared dove, great tit, robin and long-tailed tit – were slightly up in numbers. "Many species have seen a very slight increase in the last year," said the Big Garden Birdwatch co-ordinator Sarah Kelly.

"The significant increase in long-tailed tit sightings highlights the impact that feeding can have on some species. They have only started coming to feeders fairly recently, and more people are seeing them as this behaviour develops. As more and more people realise the importance of feeding and gardening for wildlife we are seeing an increasing variety of birds on our tables and feeders."

The goldfinch dropped out of the top 10 rankings after its entry for the first time last year. Both the goldfinch (in 11th place) and the greenfinch slipped a place in 2009, although both species have steadily increased in recent years. Another finch, the striking siskin, which made it into the top 20 for the first time in the survey's history last year, dropped back to number 26

New species found in Papua-New Guinea

2009-03-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

A chirping frog, jumping spiders and a striped gecko were among more than 50 new animal species scientists have discovered in a remote, mountainous region of Papua New Guinea.Of the animals discovered, 50 spider species, three frogs and a gecko appear to have never been described in scientific literature before, said Conservation International. The Washington DC-based group spent the past several months analysing more than 600 animal species the group found during its expedition to the South Pacific island nation in July and August.

The new frogs include a tiny brown animal with a sharp chirp, a bug-eyed bright green tree frog and another frog with a loud ringing call.

One of the jumping spiders is shiny and pale green, while another is furry and brown.

"If you're finding things that are that big and that spectacular that are new, that's really an indication that there's a lot out there that we don't know about," said Steve Richards, the leader of the expedition. "It never ceases to amaze me, the spectacular things that are turning up from that island."

The findings are significant, particularly the discovery of the new frog species, said Craig Franklin, a zoology professor at The University of Queensland in Australia who studies frogs.

"They're often regarded as a great bioindicator of environmental health," said Mr Franklin, who was not involved in the expedition. "Often we see declines in frogs as a direct pointer to an affected environment."

Researchers from Conservation International explored the region with scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada and Montclair State University in New Jersey, as well as local scientists from Papua New Guinea.

The area the researchers explored provides a critical source of clean drinking water to tens of thousands of people living in surrounding communities and local clans rely on the region for hunting.

Crabs feel and remember pain

2009-03-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

The study, which was carried out by Professor Bob Elwood and Mirjam Appel from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen's University, Belfast, looked at the reactions of hermit crabs to small electric shocks. It was published in the journal "Animal Behaviour."

Professor Elwood, whose previous work showed that prawns endure pain, said his research highlighted the need to investigate the treatment of crustaceans used in food industries.

Hermit crabs have no shell of their own so inhabit other structures, usually empty mollusc shells.

In the research, wires were attached to shells to deliver the small shocks to the abdomen of some of the crabs within the shells. The only crabs to get out of their shells were those which had received shocks, indicating that the experience is unpleasant for them.

The research suggests that this response is not just a reflex, but that central neuronal processing takes place.

Hermit crabs are known to prefer some species of shells to others and it was found that that they were more likely to come out of the shells they least preferred.

The main aim of the experiment was to deliver a shock just under the threshold that causes crabs to move out of the shell, to see what happened when a new shell was then offered.

Crabs that had been shocked but had remained in their shell appeared to remember the experience of the shock because they quickly moved towards the new shell, investigated it briefly and were more likely to change to the new shell compared to those that had not been shocked.

"There has been a long debate about whether crustaceans including crabs, prawns and lobsters feel pain," said Professor Elwood in a press statement.

"We know from previous research that they can detect harmful stimuli and withdraw from the source of the stimuli but that could be a simple reflex without the inner 'feeling' of unpleasantness that we associate with pain.

"This research demonstrates that it is not a simple reflex but that crabs trade-off their need for a quality shell with the need to avoid the harmful stimulus.

"Such trade-offs are seen in vertebrates in which the response to pain is controlled with respect to other requirements. Humans, for example, may hold onto a hot plate that contains food whereas they may drop an empty plate, showing that we take into account differing motivational requirements when responding to pain.

"Trade-offs of this type have not been previously demonstrated in crustaceans. The results are consistent with the idea of pain being experienced by these animals."

Previous work at Queen's University found that prawns show prolonged rubbing when an antenna was treated with weak acetic acid but this rubbing was reduced by local anesthetic.

According to Queen's University the findings from both studies are consistent with observations of pain in mammals.

But Professor Elwood says that in contrast to mammals, little protection is given to the millions of crustaceans that are used in the fishing and food industries each day.

"More research is needed in this area where a potentially very large problem is being ignored," said Elwood.

"Legislation to protect crustaceans has been proposed but it is likely to cover only scientific research. Millions of crustacean are caught or reared in aquaculture for the food industry.

"There is no protection for these animals (with the possible exception of certain states in Australia) as the presumption is that they cannot experience pain.

"With vertebrates we are asked to err on the side of caution and I believe this is the approach to take with these crustaceans

Brits flee to Godzone

2009-03-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

New Zealand is becoming a "lifeboat island" for environmental refugees, fleeing climate change that they fear will make the larger land masses of the Northern Hemisphere barren and uninhabitable.

One of the world's most distinguished environmentalists, Professor James Lovelock, says in his new book, The Vanishing Face of Gaia, that New Zealand could be one of the world's last havens as global warming fundamentally changes the planet.

And scientists at the Copenhagen climate science conference this month warned that equatorial regions in Asia and Africa would not be able to grow enough food, forcing a rush of eco-migrants to more temperate nations like New Zealand.

The fear of rising waters in England persuaded Lizzy and Mike Larmer-Cottle to move their family from London to Albany, half an hour north of Auckland, surrounded by rolling hills and beaches.

They say, New Zealand will provide a better quality of life for their sons.

"England was just having more and more flooding - half of it's going to be under water," said Lizzy..
Liam Clifford, a director of London-based GlobalVisas, writes on the company's website that while some eco-migrants are from low-lying island nations, many are wealthy Americans and Europeans choosing to start a new life in New Zealand.

"It is seen as a country with a temperate climate that will escape extreme weather. It has a superior environmental record and is developing renewable fuels, and is shielded from conflicts by the Pacific Ocean."

Figures from Statistics NZ show the numbers of permanent migrants arriving here from Europe increased 1 per cent to 26,870 in the past year.
The figures from the bigger continents are more dramatic: immigrant numbers from Asia increased by 14 per cent to 26,640, and those from the Americas climbed 12 per cent to 7357.

Adam Fier and his wife Misbah Sadat moved their family from Maryland in the United States to New Zealand late last month.

Fier, a computer security professional who used to work at Nasa, told the Washington Post the decision was made because of his two girls.

"Quite honestly, I feel in 100 years, one of my daughters is still going to be alive and this planet is going to be a mess," he said.

Of course, the British have always been attracted here by the good climate, open spaces and lower pollution. But the new breed of eco-migrant is fleeing more than just crowds and smog.

Some scientists predict rising sea levels and increased rainfall could affect the homes and land of five million people.

Coupled with a predicted rise in the UK population to 71 million by 2031, some are choosing to leave now.

John Zamick chose New Zealand as a new home for his family for entirely environmental reasons.

In the UK rising temperatures and sea levels threatened to turn the "semi-arid" East Anglia region into a desert - if the low-lying plains are not swamped by rising seas instead.

The businessman, who now co-directs a biodiesel company in Nelson, saw the writing on the wall when he studied the droughts and other long-term environmental effects of global warming in Europe and North Africa.

"The whole Mediterranean basin is warming up at four times the speed of the planet," he said.

His friend James Hardy was also influenced by global warming when he chose to move to Nelson.

Hardy compared the potential effects of global warming on the UK environment to the American movie The Day After Tomorrow. The blockbuster shows the world being ravaged by an ice age and floods.

He, his wife and three children decided to move south three-and-a-half years ago.

"New Zealand has land, New Zealand has wind and a far more sustainable climate," he said.

Save Last Cross River Gorillas

2009-03-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

The Cross River Gorilla Campaign assists the international efforts of the Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) to secure a long-term viable future for great apes in the wild. GRASP is a project of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Goal of the campaign is to focus attention and raise awareness about the relatively unknown Cross River gorilla as well as to raise funds for its conservation. These elusive gorillas are hard to spot deep in the rainforest. Two important expeditions to the highland rainforests of South West Cameroon have been organised in 2006 and 2007.

For 2009, a third expedition has been planned to survey the entire range of the remaining gorilla family groups and identify suitable locations for a rescue and research facility.

The team also takes part in one of the most daunting challenges in Africa - the Mount Cameroon Race - raising awareness and involving youth of the local communities – and took the 3rd position this year. The Mount Cameroon Race, climbing up to 4,100m above sea level, remains the most dangerous race for people because of its terrain, climate and topography.

The Cross River Gorilla is listed as being critically endangered and can only be found in a small area (12,000 km2) around the Cross River straddling the border between Cameroon and Nigeria. Critically endangered means that gorilla numbers have decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations if the situation remains the same.

Currently there are less than 300 Cross River gorillas in the wild. Like many endangered species, Cross River gorillas are being threatened by the loss of habitat due to human encroachment into their natural habitats.

“Cross River Gorillas face an additional danger because they are hunted for their meat,” said Arend de Haas, director of ACF. “In many communities, bushmeat makes up a large proportion of the animal protein being eaten, up to 84% in some communities living near the rainforest”. Gorillas have also been killed by local residents due to perceived danger and or human-wildlife conflicts such as crop-raiding.

Since 2003, ACF has been working together with ERuDeF on the conservation of great apes and their habitat, the montane rainforests in South West Cameroon. Conservation efforts for the cross river gorilla under the Regional Action Plan adopted in 2007 include the establishment of community managed protected areas, education and training of former poachers, transboundary conservation planning, development of ecotourism as well as improved legislation and law enforcement.

Crossrivergorilla.org has been developed as a global education and fundraising platform – visitors can learn more about this unique great ape and stay up to date with the latest developments.

High realist gorilla and other wildlife fine art prints have been created by award winning Canadian artist Daniel Taylor and are available at crossrivergorilla.org and at art-for-africa.net.

Plight of albino animals

2009-03-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

It is the ultimate hunter's prize. From the timid deer to the rampant tiger: the whiter the animal, the bigger the bounty on its head. As deer stalkers take to the British countryside this week for the British roebuck shooting season, one young deer will be a more vulnerable position than its peers. An extraordinarily rare, white deer has had a four-figure bounty put on its head as hunters clamour to be the first to kill the animal.

The white roe, nicknamed Pearl by animal rights protesters, was initially spotted in December in Dumfries, in the Scottish lowlands. It is one of about a dozen found since the Second World War, according to experts. The animal is usually brown coated and one of the most common species in the UK, with an estimated 800,000 living up and down the British Isles.

Initially it was thought the deer was suffering from albinism, but experts now believe a rare genetic mutation resulting in a condition called leucism has changed the deer's pigmentation.

Now hunters are keen to stalk the animal and be the first to kill it. One German stalker has reputedly offered more than £5,400 for the deer.

"Selling the opportunity to shoot this deer is a very good money earner," said Charlie Jacoby, editor of Sporting Rifle magazine, which is to publish a diary chronicling the animal's life, and death. "American and German hunters like deer and once this deer has its antlers, it will be even more attractive to them for stalking."

But Kevin Stuart, who owns the stalking rights to the 3,000 acres of land, this weekend vowed to protect the animal. Mr Stuart last saw the creature about 10 days ago, but is reluctant to get close to it as it may alert people to its whereabouts. "As long as the deer stays within the confines of the estate it will be fine. But it is a wild animal and will go wherever it wants to go. At the moment it is a yearling and doesn't even have antlers. It is a beautiful animal and we are worried about poachers and people coming to shoot it."

The Scottish MSP Elaine Murray has put forward a motion in Parliament to have the animal protected. "We are also looking to whether protection could apply to an animal which is genetically rare from a species itself that isn't particularly rare," she said.

The white deer is just one example of many white or albino animals that have attracted the attention of hunters, illegal animal traders and the plain curious. An albino corn snake can fetch about $500 (£350). Albino alligators are also prized possessions. Last year, seven rare albino alligators were stolen from a zoo in Brazil. They were said to be worth $10,000 each. White tigers have been hunted to such a degree that they are effectively extinct in the wild. Inbreeding in captivity has led to an abundance in zoos. Assuming they could get at them, hunters are reportedly willing to pay as much as $60,000 for a chance to shoot one of the animals, 10 times the bounty for a normal tiger.

Alistair Currie, senior researcher at the animal charity Peta, said: "It is an incredibly Victorian attitude that if something is unusual your response is to kill it. You would hope that if people take the view that if something is unusual, they would want to preserve it and that it should be valued."

Flu epidemic killing bonobos in Congo sanctuary

2009-03-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Six bonobos, a species of chimpanzee, have died from a flu epidemic in a month at the Lola Ya Bonobo in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ten more have contracted the flu.

“There is no fever. Antibiotics don’t do anything. The bonobos have severe respiratory infections and then they can’t breath for 3 days then they die,” writes a staff member on the sanctuary's blog through the conservation organization WildlifeDirect. The staff of Lola Ya Bonobo have sent out a plea for help and donations, as the flu continues to sweep through their center.

Located in sixty acres of forest, the Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary is a place for bonobos who have been confiscated by police following attempts to sell them to pet markets in the US, Europe, or Middle East. The sanctuary provides rehabilitation for the bonobos and educates the local populace about the apes in an effort to curb hunting bush meat, one of the major threats to bonobos and apes across Africa. The center eventually hopes to reintroduce some of the bonobos back into the wild.

Bonobos are smaller than Common chimpanzees. They also sport pink lips and a black face. Behaviorally, bonobos are quite different from common chimpanzees. Whereas common chimpanzees live in patriarchal groups, bonobo groups are dominated by females. They are less violent than chimpanzees and do not engage in warfare like common chimpanzees. In addition, bonobos are famous for their sexual openness, including using sexual activity as a greeting and a way of mitigating conflict.

Bonobos are listed as endangered by IUCN's Red List. Only found in the DRC estimates of their population vary widely, from 5,000 to 50,000 individuals. Bonobos are threatened by habitat loss, deforestation, the pet trade, the bushmeat market, and even for use in witchcraft.

The Oldest Living Organism

2009-03-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Bristlecone pines are the oldest living trees in world. It is also considered the strongest living organism in the planet for it survived the harshest living conditions on earth.

In 1957, a scientist named Edmund Schulman discovered the oldest living organism in earth's history - the Bristlecone pine. He named his discovery "Methuselah". The name actually came from a Bible character under the same name who was known to be the longest-lived person mentioned in the Scriptures.

This tree is estimated to be 5,000 years old. Imagine it was already an old tree when the Egyptians were building the pyramids.

The Bristlecone pine can be found atop the mountains of Western United States and grows at an elevation of more than 10,000 feet. The tree survived the harshest living conditions on earth: below zero temperature, brawny winds, small amount of rainfall and thin oxygen.

Tribulations in a man's life will give him character. As such, difficulties that we will encounter could actually be good for us. Adversities are important ingredients of life's process that will produce good results in our lives. Just like the proud “Methuselah”, the tree that survived the harsh elements of nature.

Poison Takes Toll On Africa's Lions

2009-03-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

We all grew up learning that the lion is the king of the jungle. And now that we're not little any more, we know just how vulnerable they are. In fact, when exposed to man's devices, lions are extremely fragile.

The latest weapon being used against them is poison. African herders whose livestock and livelihood are threatened by lions are killing them in the most effective and economical way they can.

And overwhelmingly, that is by using a cheap American chemical called Furadan. It is marketed as a pesticide, to be used for protecting crops. But it's bought by many to kill animals. And that?s one reason why, conservationists say, Africa's lions are in trouble.

60 Minutes and correspondent Bob Simon took a journey through the bush in Kenya to find out what's going on. We learned that 20 years ago, there were some 200,000 lions in Africa. Today, there are 30,000 and the numbers are going down all the time.

Lions are being poisoned at a staggering rate in Kenya, and there's little chance cubs outside the wildlife reserves there will make it to adulthood.

Dr. Laurence Frank, of the University of California Berkeley, told Simon he believes that poison, combined with other threats, will make the lion in Africa extinct.

Frank has been following lions for the last 30 years, looking for ways to keep them alive. While 60 Minutes was there, Alayne Cotterill, his colleague, needed to put a new collar on a lioness named Mara. She darted her and put her to sleep.

Cotterill and Frank had less than an hour to do their work before Mara would wake up. A sleeping lion is a deceptively gentle creature. Her coat, which looks exquisitely smooth, is actually quite rough to the touch.

Seeing Mara's claws retracting into soft, padded paws, you understand why she is such an efficient killer. But actually, she may be more afraid of us than we are of her.

"They're very unlikely to attack us," Cotterill explained. "There's been so many years of conflict with people in this area, it's almost hardwired into their systems to be terrified of people."

And with good reason: over the millennia, people have speared, shot and trapped lions. Today, the primary culprit appears to be poison.

"We know of 30-plus poisonings just in this area in the last five or six years. We have data on another 35 or 40 poisonings in our other study area, elsewhere in Kenya. But that's gotta be just the tiny tip of the iceberg," Dr. Frank told Simon.

Mara is part of a pride which lives on Claus Mortensen's ranch. Five years ago he found out just how devastating poison can be when he discovered that another of his prides had gone missing.

"After a few days, vultures were seen circling on our northern boundary there. And we went out and we found first one lion, then another, and then another," Mortensen remembered.

Seven lions in all had perished. The lions had been vomiting and there were no bullet wounds.

Mortensen said he was sure the lions had been poisoned and suspects that Furadan was responsible. It's one of the most toxic pesticides sold in Kenya, widely available and hard to detect because it dissipates quickly in poisoned animals. Lab tests, he says, ruled out any other poison.

So why would anyone want to poison these glorious creatures? The first thing you need to know is that 70 percent of the country's wildlife is found outside the protected game reserves, on Kenya's vast plains, where wild animals and cattle mingle. Lions are there too, and that's where the trouble begins. The lions attack and eat the cattle.

The area is inhabited by the Maasai people, who always had a way of dealing with that. The young men went out hunting lions with spears; it was a rite of passage. Antony Kasanga was one of them.

Asked what it means for a young Maasai man to kill a lion, Kasanga told Simon, "It makes you famous. You get the whole community to know you, because you killed a lion?.If you had one girlfriend, you get 20 more."

It's more than just having 20 girlfriends: killing lions protects cattle, the very foundation of the Maasai?s existence.

When a cow is killed by a lion, Kasanga said it's a disaster.

And Kasanga's job now is to avert that disaster and save the lion at the same time. He is a leading member of the Lion Guardians, a group of reformed Maasai warriors who keep track of collared lions and warn herders when the lions get too close to their cattle.

“Bodies” exhibition probed in Poland

2009-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

Polish prosecutors are investigating whether a controversial exhibition displaying human cadavers amounts to desecration of the human body, a spokesman said Friday.

“Bodies… the exhibition,” which has toured a number of countries, consists of 13 corpses and around 250 body parts which have undergone a process known as “plastination” which preserves human tissue permanently using liquid silicone rubber.

“We are investigating this case to check whether the corpses were not desecrated and whether all procedures needed to mount such an exhibition in Poland were carried out,” a spokesman for the Warsaw prosecutors’ office, Mateusz Martyniuk, told Reuters.

The exhibition, which has also drawn criticism from some Polish politicians, is housed in a Warsaw shopping mall and is scheduled to run until mid-July. The organizers said they had met all legal requirements to bring it to Poland.

“The exhibition entered the European Union a few months ago and in line with all sanitary procedures, customs regulations and others,” said Agnieszka Rojewska from Media Metropolis, the public relations agency promoting the display in Poland.

She said more than 10,000 people had visited the exhibition since it opened a week ago. Its chief medical adviser is Roy Glover, professor emeritus of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Michigan.

Sanitary officials expressed concern. “Thirteen dead people appear out of the blue in the center of Warsaw. It provokes the deepest astonishment, amazement and suspicion,” said Deputy General Sanitary Inspector for Poland, Jan Orgelbrand.

He invoked the specter of the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, located in southern Poland, where the remains of murdered Jews were used in the manufacture of various products.

“The human being is sacred… A ‘beautiful’ lamp made of human skin in Auschwitz is the riposte to the question of where the human being ends and where art begins,” he said.

Poland was home to one of the world’s largest Jewish communities before the Nazis slaughtered most of them during World War Two in camps such as Auschwitz, where some 1.5 million Jews from all over Europe were killed.

Comment among people viewing the exhibition was mixed.

“There are some critical opinions about this, but I don’t agree with them. That’s what we are like,” visitor Anna Jurek told Reuters.

Last year, the “Bodies” exhibition also stirred controversy in the United States. The promoter agreed to stop using remains of undocumented origin in the New York display after a probe by the state attorney general.

Gorilla slaughter sparks campaign

2009-03-30T10:23:00.001-07:00

If the people of Congo save the mountain gorilla, might the gorilla return the favour?

That is the hope of environmental activists, who realise that wildlife conservation and tourism could be the key to survival for people as well as animals in a part of Africa where conflict has been the norm.

Mountain gorillas are gentle giants that range across the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa. These primates are considered extremely endangered, with fewer than 720 in existence.

After a decade of relative calm for these animals - the same cannot be said of the humans around them - wildlife officials report at least 10 have been killed this year.

Photographs documenting the slaughter are heartbreaking, mostly because of the peaceful, human-like expressions the dead gorillas wear.

These pictures are part of the tool kit brought to the United States by Arthur Mugisha, a former game warden in Uganda and now manager of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme.

Mugisha acknowledged that the people of Congo can well survive without the mountain gorilla, even though they might not survive the continuing conflict between government forces and rebels in the Virunga National Forest.

But he said the plight of the gorillas was one way to focus attention on the plight of the humans.

“If we were not talking about gorillas … the story would be very different,” Mugisha said. “It would be another group of people who are suffering and dying, and the world continues.”

No one really knows why mountain gorillas are being killed now, though jealousy might play a role, said Craig Sholley of the African Wildlife Foundation.

In this area of rich biodiversity, Uganda and Rwanda have been able to capitalise on gorilla tourism, Sholley said, with tourist permits alone accounting for about $15 million in annual revenue.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s unstable Government has been unable to do the same.

“Folks in Congo are taking a look at the successful situation in Rwanda and Uganda, which have revitalised over the last several years, and they’re jealous,” Sholley said. “A degree of jealousy has led to a degree of institutional breakdown that is causing problems in terms of enforcement on the ground.”

Personal animosity might also be a factor, Mugisha said, with gorilla killings becoming a way to settle scores against those charged with protecting the creatures.

What is clear is that fighting between Congolese military and rebels in the park has left gorillas unprotected as park rangers and civilians flee from violence.

“They live hour by hour, not even day by day, because any time they can die,” Mugisha said of the people living in the area.

“These are communities that are looking for livelihood, but they are not sure if they will be able to see tomorrow, so it’s a very frustrating and empty life that they are living.”

The possibility for change might lie in saving the gorillas and their environment, Mugisha said. His program works to make sure that, through the gunfire, wildlife professionals are still able to go into the gorilla areas to do their jobs.

The program also encourages such activities as bee-keeping and mushroom cultivation that individual families can do in and around their homes and that can bring in money.

A trans-boundary strategy to protect mountain gorillas has been supported by the political powers in Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda, he said. It lets wildlife organisations such as Mugisha’s take a neutral stance to warfare while trying to preserve gorilla populations.

It also aims to save the forests where the gorillas live, rather than clearing the trees for cropland.

For those whose fields lie just outside the forest, the gorillas can be a nuisance. So Mugisha and others have set up Human Gorilla Conflict Organisations - like neighborhood watch groups, except, instead of keeping the area clear of crime, they aim to keep it clear of crop-raiding mountain gorillas.

“These gorillas are intelligent and they know they are crop-raiding,” Mugisha said. “So when there is an organised group that comes, we can actually chase them without harming them.”

Though they can appear threatening and are certainly large and strong, mountain gorillas are very timid, Sholley said.

“If you put a force of 10 people between them and the gardens, the gorillas are in no way, shape or form going to go into the gardens,” Sholley said.

Pink dolphin appears in US lake

2009-03-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

The world’s only pink Bottlenose dolphin which was discovered in an inland lake in Louisiana, USA, has become such an attraction that conservationists have warned tourists to leave it alone.

Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA.

Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.

He said: “I just happened to see a little pod of dolphins, and I noticed one that was a little lighter.

“It was absolutely stunningly pink.

“I had never seen anything like it. It’s the same color throughout the whole body and it looks like it just came out of a paint booth.

“The dolphin appears to be healthy and normal other than its coloration, which is quite beautiful and stunningly pink.

“The mammal is entirely pink from tip to tail and has reddish eyes indicating it’s albinism. The skin appears smooth, glossy pink and without flaws.

“I have personally spotted the pink dolphin 40 to 50 times in the time since the original sighting as it has apparently taken up residence with its family in the Calcasieu ship channel.

“As time has passed the young mammal has grown and sometimes ventures away from its mother to feed and play but always remains in the vicinity of the pod.

“Surprisingly, it does not appear to be drastically affected by the environment or sunlight as might be expected considering its condition, although it tends to remain below the surface a little more than the others in the pod.”

Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said: “I have never seen a dolphin coloured in this way in all my career.

“It is a truly beautiful dolphin but people should be careful, as with any dolphins, to respect it - observe from a distance, limit their time watching, don’t chase or harass it

“While this animal looks pink, it is an albino which you can notice in the pink eyes.

“Albinism is a genetic trait and it unclear as to the type of albinism this animal inherited.”

A close relation of dolphins, the Amazon River Botos, called pink dolphins, live in South America in the Amazon.

18 of Nature’s Most Powerful Medicinal Plants

2009-03-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

From marijuana to catnip, there are hundreds of remarkably common herbs, flowers, berries and plants that serve all kinds of important medicinal and health purposes that might surprise you: anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, insect repellent, antiseptic, expectorant, antibacterial, detoxification, fever reduction, antihistamine and pain relief. Here are eighteen potent medical plants you’re likely to find in the wild - or even someone’s backyard - that can help with minor injuries, scrapes, bites and pains.*

Marijuana

Seriously. Though marijuana is still illegal in the United States, it is legal in 12 states for medicinal purposes, and if a case of poison ivy in the woods isn’t a medicinal purpose, what is? Marijuana was *mostly* legal until 1970 when it became classified as a hard drug. No one thought of it as a dangerous or illicit drug until the 20th century; in fact, hemp was George Washington’s primary crop and Thomas Jefferson’s secondary crop. The Declaration of Independence is written on it; the Gutenberg Bible was printed on hemp, too. There’s actually an environmental dimension to legalizing marijuana - hemp is a remarkable and renewable plant, offering all kinds of foodstuff and product uses that surpass cotton and plastic. But health benefits are well documented, from depression and anxiety relief to reduced blood pressure, pain alleviation and glaucoma treatment. It is not addictive, does not kill brain cells and is not a “gateway” drug - in fact, when pot is more available, studies show that the use of hard drugs like heroin and cocaine actually decreases. The bottom line for hikers: when your leg is broken from a misjudged boulder hopping attempt (pain) and a bear has eaten your friend (depression) and you’re lost because you forgot the compass (dumbass), consult the cannabis.

Lady Ferns

If you grew up in the Pacific Northwest you likely know what ferns are good for: treating stinging nettles. One of the world’s oldest plants, there are many varieties of ferns, but if you’re lucky enough to spy the soft, delicate lady fern, grab some and roll it up between your palms into a rough mash. The juices released will quickly ease stinging nettle burns and can also ease minor cuts, stings and burns (fresh salt water also works in a pinch for bee stings). Bracken fern are similar to lady fern and will work, as well. The rougher, glossier, stiff sword fern and deer fern won’t be as effective, though. (Learn about types of ferns.) Lady ferns actually grow all over North America but are common in areas with high rainfall.

California Poppy

The brilliant blooms of the poppy make this opioid plant an iconic one. The plant is an effective nervine (anxiety reliever) and is safe for use on agitated children. Can be made into a a tea for quick relief of nervousness and tension. A stronger decoction will offer pain relief. (A decoction is made by “stewing” all safe plant parts, including stems and roots if possible, in water for several hours and, ideally, soaking overnight.)

Blood Flower

The blood flower (also Mexican butterfly weed) is a type of tropical milkweed with toxic milky sap that is emetic (it makes you hurl). It’s also historically favored as a heart stimulant and worm expellent. Pretty useful for a number of potential hiking disasters, if you think about it. (Of course, if you’d quit eating those poisonous berries you probably wouldn’t need to worry about finding a natural expectorant.)

Tansy

If you’ve decided to backpack through Europe instead of the mountains of Mexico (but why?), you’ll want to know about a few helpful medicinal plants. Tansy is an old-world aster and remedy, used for flavoring beer and stews as well as repelling insects. Rubbing the leaves on the skin provides an effective bug repellent, but tansy can also be used to treat worms. It is said to be poisonous when extracted, but a few leaves are not harmful if ingested.

Korean Mint (hyssop)

Who doesn’t want to be minty fresh? Most of the various types of “mint” or mentha - spearmint, Korean mint, applemint, regular old mint - offer reported health benefits and medicinal properties. (Avoid pennyroyal, as it’s poisonous.) Mint is famous for soothing headaches, fighting nausea, calming the stomach and reducing nervousness and fatigue. Korean mint, also called Indian mint and hyssop, is a fairly effective antiviral, making it useful for fighting colds and the flu. Whatever continent you’re on, some type of mint is usually to be found. Eat whole, garnish food or make tea to get the all purpose health benefits.

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is fodder for livestock for a reason: it’s incredibly rich in minerals and health-promoting nutrients and compounds. With roots that grow 20 to 30 feet deep, alfalfa is considered the “father of all plants”. (It also contains a high amount of protein for a green.) Alfalfa originally grew in the Mediterranean and Middle East but has now spread to most of Europe and the Americans. It can treat morning sickness, nausea, kidney stones, kidney pain and urinary discomfort. It is a powerful diuretic and has a bit of stimulant power, helping to energize after a bout with illness. It’s a liver and bowel cleanser and long-term can help reduce cholesterol. You can purchase seeds and sprouts, but it’s fine to eat the leaves straight from the earth.

Catnip

The cannabis of the cat kingdom. Famous for making cats deliriously crazy, catnip has health properties that are great for humans, too. Catnip can relieve cold symptoms (helpful if you’re on a camping trip and don’t have access to Nyquil). It’s useful in breaking a fever as it promotes sweating. Catnip also helps stop excessive bleeding and swelling when applied rather than ingested. This mint plant (yep, another one) is also reportedly helpful in treating gas, stomach aches, and migraines. Catnip can stimulate uterine contractions, so it should not be consumed by pregnant women. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere.

Sage

Sage is an incredibly useful herb, widely considered to be perhaps the most valuable herb. It is anti-flammatory, anti-oxidant, and antifungal. In fact, according to the noted resource World’s Healthiest Foods, “Its reputation as a panacea is even represented in its scientific name, Salvia officinalis, derived from the Latin word, salvere, which means ‘to be saved’.” It was used as a preservative for meat before the advent of refrigeration (eminently useful: you never know when you’ll be forced to hunt in the wild). Sage aids digestion, relieves cramps, reduces diarrhea, dries up phlegm, fights colds, reduces inflammation and swelling, acts as a salve for cuts and burns, and kills bacteria. Sage apparently even brings color back to gray hair. A definite concern when lost in the woods.

Blackberries

Did you know blackberries have useful healing properties? Of course they’re loaded in antioxidants and vitamins, but the leaves and roots have value, too. Native Americans have long used the stems and leaves for healing, while enjoying the young shoots peeled as a vegetable of sorts and the berries, either raw or in jams. The leaves and root can be used as an effective treatment against dysentery and diarrhea as well as serving usefulness as an anti-inflammatory and astringent. Ideal for treating cuts and inflammation in the mouth.

Wild Quinine

According to Alternative Nature Online, wild quinine is a potent herb that “is used as an antiperiodic, emmenagogue, kidney, lithontripic, poultice. It has traditionally been used in alternative medicine to treat debility, fatigue, respiratory infection, gastrointestinal infection, and venereal disease.” Whatever the ailment, quinine is famously helpful in treating it. Only the root and flowers are edible; avoid the plant.

Navajo Tea

Also called greenthread, Plains Tea or Coyote Plant, this plant has been used for centuries by Native Americans to quickly relieve that most brutal and irritating of infections: the UTI (urinary tract infection). Best when made into a tea or decoction.

Red Clover

Native to Europe, Northern Africa and Western Asia, red clover is now ubiquitous worldwide. The plant’s reddish pink blossoms can be used for coughs and colds, but they are an excellent detoxifier and blood cleanser as well.

Sweet Marjoram

Marjoram and oregano are often used interchangeably, but the aromatic sweet marjoram is slightly different. The Greeks called it the “Joy of the Mountain” and it was revered throughout the Mediterranean for its fragrance, flavor and medicinal value. The famous French herbs de provence and Middle Eastern za’atar both use sweet marjoram. Marjoram has many uses (it’s a famous digestive aid) but it is effective as an antifungal, antibacterial and disinfectant treatment in a pinch.

Burdock Herb

Burdock, or cocklebur, is a prickly, thistle-like plant that grows commonly in many parts of the world. It can get fairly big and its leaves resemble the elephant ear plant. Though the burs often get caught in pets’ and livestock’s fur, don’t think of it only as an annoying plant. It is a highly effective treatment against poison ivy and poison oak (claims that it cures cancer are slightly *less* substantiated).

Feverfew

Feverfew is a plant that has well-known and documented health properties and medicinal benefits. This anti-inflammatory can treat rheumatism, arthritis and, most famously, migraine headaches and tension headaches. It’s also good for alleviating tension and general anxiety (it is a natural serotonin inhibitor). It also helps to reduce swelling and bruising. Though feverfew is most effective when taken daily, it can be a helpful pain reliever when no Advil is on hand.

Sweet Violet

Native to Europe and Asia, sweet violet is cultivated around the world and is a pleasant, delicate purple color. When brewed into a syrup the plant is effective as a treatment for colds, flu and coughs or sore throat. However, when made as a tea, it is wonderfully effective for relieving headaches and muscle and body pain.

Winter Savory

Winter savory is your savior against insect bites and stings. One of the most effective natural plant treatments for bug bites is originally from Europe and the Mediterranean but often shows up elsewhere thanks to global trade. In addition to being an antiseptic, it is delicious - used for flavoring meats and stews - and all parts are edible.

With so many amazing medicinal plants on the planet, be sure to look for future posts covering more. Feel free to submit your own request or share your botanical knowledge in the comments.
* Disclaimer: the content of this post is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered qualified medical advice. Always consult an expert before consuming or applying any foreign substance or material. Also, don’t do drugs.

The World’s Oldest Tree

2009-03-30T10:05:00.000-07:00

Earth’s oldest living inhabitant “Methuselah” has reached the age of 4,768 years.

Of the many scenic wonders found within the Inyo National Forest, one of the most amazing is the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, located between 10,000 and 11,000 ft. in the White Mountains, east of the Sierra Nevada. These trees are the oldest known living trees on earth. Here in the White Mountains, the ancient trees have survived more than 40 centuries, exceeding the age of the oldest Giant Sequoia by 1,500 years. For trees that old, one would expect giants, but Bristlecone pines look more like weathered dwarfs than like old giants. They add no more than an inch per century to their girth. The harsh climate above 10,000 ft elevation and very poor soil conditions don’t let things grow too big. As a matter of fact, Bristlecone pines are the only trees to have adapted to these conditions. That gives them a competitive edge allowing for a long and undisturbed life.

The above coordinates refer to “point 15″ of the self-guided tour of the Methuselah Loop Trail. This point is called
The Ancient Forest. Each Bristlecone pine, from young seedling to ancient relic, has an individual character. And in the Ancient Forest, where trees had more than four and a half millennia to develop their character, each tree is a true individual. Every single tree in the Ancient Forest is at least 4,000 years old, many reach 4,500 years and the oldest one – Methuselah – has a confirmed age of 4,768 years which secured its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. In order to protect Methuselah from souvenir hunters and people who would just “love it to death,” the forest service does not disclose its location. It only hints that Methuselah is on of the trees right along the trail in the Ancient Forest. So, we took pictures of the most magnificent trees along that trail. Rest assured that each and every one of them is older than any other tree you have ever seen and that one of them is Methuselah.

If these trees could talk they would tell us what it means to be 4,600 years old:

“The oldest of us started growing at around the time when the Great Pyramid of Giza was completed (2600 BC). We were 600 years old when Stonehenge was completed (2000 BC) and 800 years at the beginning of the Bronze Age (1800 BC). When we were 1,100 years old (1500 BC) the Maya Civilization rose in Central America and when we were 1,300 years old (1300 BC), Moses lead the Hebrews from Eygpt to the land of Israel. Most of us were already 1,400 years old when the ancient Pueblo civilization rose in North America while at the same time, at the other end of the world, the Greeks fought in the Trojan War (1194 BC). We were 1,800 years old at the beginning of the Iron Age (800 BC) and some of us reached already 1,900 years when the city of Rome was founded (753 BC). We were close to 2,100 years old when Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment and founded Buddhism in India. When we were 2,100 years old, China’s first emperor built the Great Wall of China (528 BC) and when we were 2,500 years old, Julius Caesar was born. We were 2,600 years old when Jesus Christ was born and 3,200 years old when Muhammad founded Islam (610). King William conquered England when we were 3,760 years old (1066) and Christoph Columbus landed in America when we were 4,370 years old (1492). We were almost 4,400 years old when the United States declared independence and had reached the age of 4,450 when California joined the Union. And we keep getting older still!

Fish with human faces spotted in South Korea

2009-03-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

The “humanoid” carp are attracting attention in the town of Chongju in the centre of the country where they live in a small pond.

They are believed to be hybrid descendants of two carp species – the carp and the leather carp, also known as a tangerine fish.

Both fish are females and more than three feet long. They appear to have distinctive human noses, eyes and lips.

The fish live in a pond behind the home of a 64-year old South Korean man and have been there since 1986 although their looks are only just starting to attract attention.

“My fish have been getting more and more human for the past couple of years,” the owner said.

He added that he knows of other fish with similar features, and as they are both females it will be impossible for them to breed and have fish-faced offspring.

This is the second time in recent months that carp have made headlines in Asia. Last November a shoal of the fish in Changsha, in China’s Hunan Province turned on a duck who landed on their lake looking for food.

The Koi carp took exception to the intruder and fought back, bunching together into a seething mass to assert their authority, forcing the duck to fly away.

White Blye-eyed aligator

2009-03-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

With his piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare alligator stands out like a sore thumb.

Weighing over 500 pounds, Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world.

The 22-year-old, whose name means white fog, lives along with three other giant leucistic alligators at the world famous Gatorland theme park in Florida.

‘People are awestruck when they see them, and just one look into those icy, blue eyes will give you chills,’ says Mark McHugh, President & CEO of Gatorland.

‘We’re excited to bring these thrilling animals to Florida.’

Collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp, the ivory reptiles were part of a clutch of seventeen infants recovered by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986.

The group later brought the hatchlings to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans where only a few of the rare reptiles survived, before they were brought to Gatorland last year.

‘This is the largest group of giant white gators in the world,’ says Tim Williams of Gatorland.

‘These are not albino animals, they are what we call leucistic, which means they have a little bit of pigmentation around the mouth and a ‘little touch on the tail and they have piercing blue eyes.’

Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the colour pigmentation in their skin.

Out of the five million American alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators.

‘They are just like alligators and they eat the same food,’ explains Tim.

‘The biggest concern is that they never would have survived in the wild. They are like little beacons out shining “come eat me”.

‘They are each ten to eleven plus feet in length and vulnerable to many predators because their lack of skin pigmentation deprives them of natural camouflage.’

Due to their condition, the alligators are housed in special enclosures to protect them from sunlight - and the unwanted attention of other males.

‘We have four white alligators here at Gatorland and because they are all males they cannot be in the same enclosure as they are all very big and they would all fight with each other,’ says Tim.

‘They are also very sensitive to direct sunlight, so we have to keep them in an environment where they get a tiny bit of sunlight during the day.

‘They need to have a bit of Vitamin D but that is supplemented in their diet where we feed them chicken, fish, red meat and vitamin supplements.

‘They each have their own pool and a haul out area and wooden decking they crawl out and bask in the heat.’

Tim and his team are now hoping to breed white alligators with two female American gators who carry the leucistic gene.

‘We also have two normal females who carry the gene for the leusitic offspring,’ he says.

“‘Our hope is that with some candle light, soft music and maybe a little wine we are hoping to breed some leusitic gators in the near future,’ he added.

The dolphin who made friends with a curious tiger

2009-03-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

They would never meet in the wild.

So perhaps it’s natural that when their paths did cross, both were curious.

This young tiger and dolphin were mutually fascinated as they stared at each other through the glass of the tank at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in California.

The pair examined each other from all angles possible - then Mavrick the dolphin blew an approving bout of bubbles at Akaasha, the Bengal tiger.

Staff were taking Akaasha, who is a six-month-old female tiger cub, on her daily walk around the theme park when she noticed Mavrick, who is a 14-month-old Atlantic bottlenose dolphin yesterday.

Mavrick cocked his head as Akaasha strained to get closer to the glass, perhaps bewildered as to why she could not catch the scent of this strange new creature grinning at her from another world.

It may be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Top 10 Facts About Abraham Lincoln

2009-03-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we’re so excited to have President’s Day off work that we forget what it’s really about. President’s Day honors George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays. What follows are some mind-blowing facts about Abraham Lincoln. Hold on to your stovepipe hats…

10. Lincoln under-utilized his pockets

Abraham Lincoln’s actual stovepipe hat

Speaking of top hats, Lincoln’s stovepipe top hat served as more than fashionable headwear. He used it to store and carry notes, letters, even bills. Why do they call it a stovepipe hat? Well, the rise is so tall and straight up and down with no flair that it resembles a length of pipe. They’re hard to come by nowadays, the traditional top hat being much more current, but still pretty “retro”. Best you go to a custom haberdashery to get one made just for you.

9. Lincoln was really tall

That stovepipe hat just made a tall guy a whole lot taller. Lincoln was 6’4”, making him our country’s tallest president. That of course raises the question, who was our shortest president? 4th president James Madison stood a stately 5’4”, making him an entire foot shorter than Honest Abe – even without his hat!

8. Lincoln has no living heirs

Despite the fact that the marriage between Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln yielded 4 sons, there are no living heirs. Three of the four sons died before their 20th birthdays: Edward died at 4 years of age, Willie at 12 years, at Tad at 18. Robert was the only child who lived into adulthood and his last descendent died sometime in the 1980’s.

7. Lincoln’s son was a death-magnet

Speaking of Robert, he was sort of a magnet for tragedy. More specifically, presidential assassination tragedy. While he was not present when his dad was killed, he was an eyewitness to Garfield’s assassination, and at the same World’s Fair where McKinley was assassinated. Another interesting fact about Robert, he was saved from a train accident by Edwin Booth, the brother of his father’s killer, John Wilkes Booth.

6. Lincoln Like to Tinker

Lincoln’s patent: “A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals”

Lincoln really liked machines and gadgets. He liked to take them apart to see how they worked and try to put them together again. He even tried his hand at inventing, and in 1849 had a patent issued for “A Device for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals”. The machine never made it, but the patent was a new thing for a president, and no president has held a patent since.

5. Lincoln & Kennedy

You didn’t think we’d leave it out, did you? There are some pretty bizarre coincidences between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Here are a couple:

Both were shot in the head with one bullet on a Friday.
Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846, Kennedy in 1946.
Lincoln’s successor (named Johnson) was born in 1808. Kennedy’s successor (also named Johnson) was born in 1908.
Lincoln’s assassin (who went by three names: John Wilkes Booth) was born in 1839.
Kenney’s assassin (who also went by three names: Lee Harvey Oswald) was born in 1939.

4. Lincoln was kind of psychic

In the weeks before his death, Lincoln was extremely melancholy. He had seen portents of his own death, and had been dreaming of death as well. On one occasion looked in the mirror and saw a double reflection, one image much paler and blurrier than the other. He told his wife that he thought it meant that he had survived his first term, but wouldn’t survive his second. The week prior to his death, Lincoln had a dream of hearing crying in a distant room of the White House. He sought out the room and found that it had a coffin in it. He asked the weeping person who had died and the person responded that it was the President. In his dream, Lincoln looked into the coffin and saw himself.

3. Lincoln dabbled in the occult

Not only did he get premonitions, he also believed in the occult. Well, if he didn’t believe then he was at least willing to go along with it. Because he and Mary had lost little Edward and Willie at such young ages, they actually held seances in the White House trying to contact their dearly departed. Mrs. Lincoln also attended seances at the homes of famous mediums of the day. Whether or not they made contact is unknown.

2. Lincoln was spiritual, not religious

Despite the last two facts, Lincoln said he was still a Christian. He didn’t, however, feel it necessary to subscribe to a particular brand of Christianity. Though many different sects try to claim him, Lincoln was 100% non-denominational. He never joined a church, didn’t say grace before meals, and spoke on a more spiritual level, rather than religious. He did read the Bible quite often, and did have a highly developed spiritual governance. When asked if he thought the Lord was on the side of the North in the Civil War, Lincoln responded, “I am not at all concerned about that…But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.”

1. Lincoln had a way with words

Not only was Lincoln spiritual and intelligent, he was also a heck of a speech writer. He wrote his own speeches, and it is said that his famous Gettysburg Address wasn’t even the best one! Rumor has it that the speech Lincoln made to the Illinois Republican Convention on May 29, 1856 was his best, but it was either so enthralling that nobody remembered to take notes, or it was so controversial that nobody was allowed to print them. Either way, no record of it exists.

Horse Fight In China

2009-03-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

Chinese spectators smile sadistically at the inhumane spectacle of two beautiful horses savagely attacking one another.

With ears back, eyes rolling and nostrils flared in fury, the enraged horses pummel each other with their hooves and bite and head-butt each other in a horrifying fight, sometimes to the death.

Men, women and children watch, and a roar of approval goes up as one horse delivers the equivalent of a double-uppercut to its opponent with its hind legs.

The cruel “sport” of horse fighting has been outlawed almost worldwide, but it still thrives in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and here in China, as these disturbing images of a “tournament” prove.

Chinese spectators watch as two beautiful horses savagely attack one another

They were taken in Guizhou province in south-west China, where local people claim such events are a part of a 500-year-old tradition. The horses have been goaded to fury by their owners who urge them on as they hang on to halter ropes to prevent the horses running off.

All around wildly cheering crowds lay bets on which one will be standing when the fighting ends.

It goes on for half an hour or more, until one or the other collapses or is simply too exhausted to continue.

The Chinese government would prefer you not to see these pictures as it tries to clean up its image for the Beijing Olympics which are only eight months away.

Local people claim such events are a part of a 500-year-old tradition

But critics say horse fighting is as widespread as ever in the huge country’s far-flung provinces, especially among the Miao ethnic group.

Like bear-baiting and cruelty to circus animals, authorities say it is difficult to stop an event that is embedded in local culture, and frequently celebrated at festivals along with fireworks and fancy-dress dragon parades.

In outlying towns horse fights often take place in the main football stadium.

The stallions are driven into a frenzy by the simple ploy of leading them to a mare in heat, then taking her away when they are roused. Mares are often injected with hormones to keep them in heat longer. If they are still reluctant when the mare is removed, they are whipped, and gunshots are fired to stir them up.

A losing horse is often pitted against a much stronger opponent in its next fight to ensure it dies and the spectators get the bloody finale they enjoy. Then, according to reports from some of the remote regions, the dead horse is barbecued as part of the festival.

The cruel ’sport’ of horse fighting has been outlawed almost worldwide, but it still thrives in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and here in China

Vivian Farrell, who has waged a long campaign against the fighting as founder and president of the International Fund for Horses, said: “It is very hard to tackle. They say it’s a tradition. Well, it used to be a tradition to sacrifice children, but we’ve moved on from that.

“Sadly it is mostly driven by the Chinese love of gambling, although people get fired up over the blood, gore and intensity of the fighting.”

She sees some hope for progress as China emerges more into the international community. “I get emails now from younger Chinese people saying they don’t like this image and asking what they can do.

“With the Olympics coming, young Chinese people want to be seen to be more humane. But it’s going to take a lot of education and a long time.”

A spokeswoman for PETA ? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ? who are campaigning for a worldwide ban on the fights, said: “Torturing these magnificent animals in the name of entertainment is deplorable. Tradition never justifies cruelty and has no place in a civilised society.”

King Tut’s face unveiled to world

2009-03-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

The face of Egypt’s most famous ancient ruler, King Tutankhamun, has been put on public display for the first time.

Archaeologists took the mummy from its stone sarcophagus and placed it in a climate-controlled case inside his tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

The event comes 85 years to the day after the pharaoh’s tomb was discovered by British explorer Howard Carter.

Until now, only about 50 living people have seen the face of the boy king, who died more than 3,000 years ago.

As experts lifted Tutankhamun from his coffin they briefly set aside the white linen covering his remains, revealing a shrivelled black face and body.

The move is part of a plan to protect the remains. Archaeologists say they are under threat from the heat and the humidity brought into the tomb by the vast numbers of tourists visiting each year.

“The golden boy has magic and mystery and therefore every person all over the world will see what Egypt is doing to preserve the golden boy, and all of them I am sure will come to see the golden boy,” Egypt’s antiquities chief Zahi Hawass told reporters before the body was moved.

Tutankhamun ruled Egypt from 1333-1324 BC and is believed to have ascended to the throne aged about nine.

Although in life he was of only moderate historical significance, in death Tutankhamun achieved worldwide fame thanks to the virtually intact state of his tomb when it was opened by Carter in 1922.

The tomb was packed with a fabulous trove of gold and ebony treasures of such luxury that when Carter first looked inside the tomb and was asked if he saw anything, his famous reply was: “Yes, wonderful things.”

Cause of death

The centrepiece of the tomb was the pharaoh’s mummified body, covered in amulets and jewels and wearing a solid gold burial mask.

In an effort to extricate the treasures, Carter and his team cut the body into pieces, chopping off the limbs and head, and using hot knives and wires to remove the gold mask which was fused to Tutankhamun’s face by the embalming process.

The body was reconstructed and returned to its original sarcophagus in 1926, only being removed for X-ray testing three times in subsequent years.

The treasures that were unearthed have captivated the world and drawn millions to the Valley of the Kings.

Questions over why Tutankhamun died at about the age of 19, and rumours of a curse prematurely killing those involved with the excavation of his tomb, have only increased the pharaoh’s fame.

When the body was X-rayed in 1968, a shard of bone was found in his skull, prompting speculation that he was killed by a blow.

Some historians have argued he was killed for attempting to bring back polytheism after succeeding Akhenaten, who had abandoned Egypt’s old gods in favour of monotheism.

However a CT scan of his remains in 2005 led researchers to say that he was not murdered and may have died of complications from a broken leg.

Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said the research suggests the boy king died after the wound became infected, and though not all of the team agreed with the assessment, all rejected the long-standing murder charge.

The orange, purple and green cauliflowers

2009-03-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

Cauliflower cheese will never be the same again.

Scientists have developed amazing variants of vegetable where the traditional white florets have been changed to a garish orange, purple and green.

The “rainbow cauliflowers” are said to taste the same as the normal varieties, but add a splash of colour to the dinner table.

Some scientists have even claimed that they are healthier for you.

Andrew Coker, a spokesman for the plant company Syngenta - which is developing the plants in Europe - stressed that the colourful cauliflowers were not the result of genetic engineering, but came after decades of traditional selective breeding.

Cauli-ful: The green, orange and purple varieties of cauliflower

Although its not the first time that orange and green cauliflowers have been seen in Britain, their creators say they will be the first to be commercially available in supermarkets and markets.

They retain their colour even after cooking. “The pictures may look garish, but they are really are this colourful,” said Mr Coker.

“Consumers are looking for ever new experiences on their dinner plates and colour features very large in their desire for different things.

“These are the results of traditional selective breeding - where different strains have been cross breed and cross bred until these strains have been created.

“We are now trying to ensure that we have the consistency of colour, taste and size before bringing them to the mass market. But you will find them in smaller outlets from this year.”

In tests, the garish cauliflowers have proved a hit with shoppers.

While traditionalists may baulk at the unusual colours, it is not the first time that plant breeders have changed the appearance of vegetables.

Until the 17th century most carrots eaten Europe were white, yellow or purple. The orange pigment was added by Dutch plant breeders looking for a way to celebrate Holland’s royal family.

The last few years has seen the introduction of purple carrots to supermarkets in Britain, along with yellow tomatoes and purple potatoes.

In America, where colour cauliflowers have been available for several years, they have been a big hit with foodies. The orange cauliflower has higher than normal levels of beta carotene, a form of vitamin A that encourages healthy skin.

The purple colour comes from anthocyanin, which may help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting.

Tests of the orange cauliflowers in America found that they contained 25 times the concentrations of beta carotene in normal cauliflowers.

World oldest animals

2009-03-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

Jonathan the tortoise and Mischief the cat may have hit the headlines for their longevity, but there are plenty of other creatures giving them a run for their money in the age stakes.

This photo of a tortoise was taken on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. The tortoise, named Jonathan, still lives there today. He may be the world’s oldest living animal.

A spokesman for the island’s tourist board said Jonathan is owned by the St Helena government and lives in the specially built plantation on the governor’s land.

He said: “Jonathan is the sole survivor of three tortoises that arrived on St Helena Island in 1882.

“He was already mature when he arrived and was at least 50-years-old.

“Therefore his minimum age is 176-years-old. He is the oldest inhabitant on St Helena and is claimed to be the oldest living tortoise in the world.

Icelandic scientists have found a 400-year-old clam, nearly twice as old as any other animal in history.

The clam — a qahog or, technically, Arctica islandica — spent those centuries in the frigid Atlantic waters off Iceland’s north coast. As the press release notes, “When this animal was a juvenile, King James I replaced Queen Elizabeth I as English monarch, Shakespeare was writing his greatest plays Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth and Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for espousing the view that the Sun rather than the Earth was the centre of the universe.”

Rabbit: Fourteen-year-old George, from Tewksbury, Massachusetts in the US, was recognised as the oldest rabbit in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records earlier this year.

The average life expectancy of a rabbit is six to eight years, making George an estimated 160 years old in human terms. His owners met at college and fed their pet Doritos.

Cat: Spike, a ginger and white tom, died two months after his 31st birthday in July 2001 - making him the world’s oldest cat.

He was bought for two shillings and sixpence in London’s Brick Lane market in 1970 and nearly died at the age of 19 when he was attacked by a dog.

Spike’s owners, from Bridport in Devon, used to put aloe vera gel into his cat food.

Spider: The world’s oldest spider is thought to have been a female from the Theraphosidae family, which lived up to the age of 28. The bird-eating arachnid was captured in Mexico in 1935.

Dog: At 29, black Labrador Bella was thought to be the oldest dog in the UK until her death in September.

She was bought from an RSPCA sanctuary 26 years ago and lived out her long life in Derbyshire.

Guinea Pig: The average age for a guinea pig may be between five and eight years, but the official record is 14 years and 10 and a half months.

Monkey: Bueno, a black spider monkey, died in 2005 at the age of 53 and was thought to be the world’s eldest monkey.

She lived a “stress-free” life at the Japan Monkey Centre in Aichi, 150 miles west of Tokyo. The average black spider monkey lives for between 30 and 33 years.

Goldfish: Tish beat all the records by living to a ripe old age of 43 after being won a funfair in Doncaster in 1956.

As he aged, his scales faded from orange to silver but his owner Hilda Hand said the key to his longevity was not feeding him too much and placing him in the sun every now and then.

The Sea Gypsies of the Andaman Sea

2009-03-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

They may look like regular folks frolicking in the water on a hot summer’s day, but they’re really much more remarkable than that. They are the Moken, a group of about 2,000 to 3,000 people who are born, live and die traveling the Andaman Sea around Southern Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Settling only during monsoon season, these “Sea Gypsies” live more than half the year in boats called kabang, each made from a single tree. They are master fishermen and expert divers, catching fish on spears with ease, while collecting a variety of other fruits of the sea by hand, such as sea cucumbers at low tide and shellfish at high tide.

Moken children learn how to swim before they can walk. The Moken can plunge to depths of 75 feet without any life support gear and can also lower their heart rates in order to hold their breaths for twice as long as other humans. And that’s not all: Swedish scientist Anna Gislen also found that Moken children have the power to constrict their pupils to tiny pinpoints when they’re in the water, enabling them to sharpen their sight and see much better underwater than the rest of us.
But how do they do it? At first, scientists thought that there might be some super-sighted genetic variation in play; after all, the Moken have been diving for hundreds of years. Perhaps, but Gislen’s studies with European children showed some pretty cool results - after four to six months of training, Swedish youngsters would automatically constrict their pupils when they came in contact with water, though not to the extent of the Moken children, who have been practising this exercise far longer.
With their almost superpower diving abilities, the Moken could easily exploit the sea, reaping more than they require to sell or trade, but they choose not to. They live simple, low-impact lives, never catching more than is required to survive. A peaceful and nonviolent people, the Moken treat everyone as family, sharing what they have and abstaining from the accumulation of worldly possessions.
When asked how the Moken people knew that the tsunami would come, they speak of the Laboon, or the “wave that eats people,” a legend that has been passed down through the generations. Angry ancestral spirits bring on this “Big Wave,” but before it arrives, the sea recedes. Saleh Kalathalay, the village headman, recognized these signs before the 2004 Tsunami struck, and ran to warn everyone to move to higher ground to avoid the impending wave. Everyone was spared, except for one handicapped tribesman who was forgotten on the beach, and for this lapse of memory, the tribe believes it is cursed and will not rebuild their village in the same spot.
And although the Moken survived the devastating disaster of 2004, the traditional nomadic life and the knowledge of the sea that comes part and parcel with it, could soon be lost. Only about 1,000 Moken still lead the traditional life and the numbers continue to dwindle.
Until the 1980s, the Sea Gypsies were largely untouched by modern civilisation. With the influx of entrepreneurs and tourists over the past 30 years and pressure from government, some Sea Gypsies are being forced to settle in permanent villages. Moken men are overworked by Burmese fishermen, often dying from the bends after diving deep and resurfacing quickly. And military presence restricts free movement of the Moken, resulting in difficulties ranging from an inability for young people to find spouses to a lack of trading opportunities for staples such as rice.
Dire though the situation seems, there is still hope. Moken leaders continue to forge ahead to bring people together and pass down the stories and rituals that have enabled these people to live for so long in partnership with the sea. Certainly, the knowledge that the Sea Gypsies have passed on to the rest of the world is something we won’t soon forget.

5300 Year Old Mummy

2009-03-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

A 5300-year-old mummified body of a man whom scientists have fondly named as Oetzi, has really altered our understanding of the human family tree and its gene pool with a DNA pattern that shows that he did not belong to any known branch of human family tree.

Oetzi was found preserved in the ice of the Eastern Alps in 1991 and since 1998 he has been on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. The examination of DNA of Oetzi has revealed that he has no match to any of the known existing races in Europe and most likely has no descendants today.

The scientists examined Oetzi’s mitochondrial DNA and found that it was unique in its structure. The mitochondrial DNA is always passed down to future generations by mothers and since no human being today carries the similar structure, it is safe to conclude that Oetzi has no descendants today.

Although he fell into a subgroup called K1, his lineage did not match any of the three known K1 ‘clusters’. This really adds another chapter to the human family tree and our understanding of evolution.

Duck thinks she is a dog

2009-03-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

A nine-month-old duck has become a local celebrity in Dorset with her dog-emulating behavior.

Essy the duck wags her tail, tries to bark, and competes for treats with her canine companions – two Staffordshire cross dogs, The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday.

The Cherry Valley duck came from the same duck farm in Cadnam as the famous four-legged Stumpy.

Owners Steph, 25, and Tony Tufft, 35, adopted the confused duck when she was only 8 weeks old.

Tony, a boat builder, said their unusual pet has been amusing people by acting like a dog since her arrival at their home in the Charminster area of the town.

He said: "We are known throughout Charminster. People come out of bars to see her. They love it.

"She doesn't know she's a duck. She must think she's a dog.

"She goes up to other dogs. People can't understand it and the dogs are really confused as well.

"We even had to buy Essy her own lead, after getting strange looks from people who thought we were duck-napping."

His wife Steph added: "It's as if Brad Pitt was walking on the lead, the amount of people that come out."

The couple said their dogs are very protective of Essy and walk on either side of her when they go out for walks.

And although Essy has a bedroom of her own in the airing cupboard of the couple's home, she prefers to sleep with the dogs.

The World Archipelago, Persian Gulf

2009-03-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

To expand the possibilities for beachfront tourist development, Dubai undertook a massive engineering project to create hundreds of artificial islands along its Persian Gulf coastline. Built from sand dredged from the sea floor and protected from erosion by rock breakwaters, the islands were shaped into recognizable forms, including two large palm trees, and even more ambitiously, a map of the world. Satellites images from the past decade have documented the islands’ creation.

This pair of images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite show the development of the archipelago known as “The World.” The top image shows the project on February 5, 2009. All the continents are represented (the “map” is tilted toward the left). A breakwater surrounds the archipelago, and its role is obvious: outside the perimeter, especially to the northwest, the waters of the Gulf ripple with waves that would wear the artificial islands away. The bottom image shows the project on November 13, 2004, when dredging and building were just getting underway.

Only one of the islands that make up “The World” appears to have achieved its full potential as a manmade tropical paradise. One of the islands in western Greenland has been landscaped, and it appears as a single green dot among its sand-covered neighbors.

The 10 Poorest Countries Of The World

2009-02-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

01. Republic of the Congo

02. Republic of Liberia

03. Republic of Zimbabwe

04. The Solomon Islands

05. Republic of Somalia

06. Union of the Comoros

07. Guinea-Bissau

08. Central African Republic

09. Niger

10. Ethiopia

The level of economy in countries around the globe is not even. It is somewhere very high and somewhere very low. GDP, literacy rate and employment rate are several parameters of a country to determine the level of its economy. According to a report of the United Nations, hunger causes the death of about 25,000 people everyday. Unfortunately, the number of children is greater than that of adults. Consider several facts of income disparity between rich and poor nations to measure the cleavage between the haves and the haves not. The combined income of the world’s richest individuals leaves far behind that of the poorest 416 million. 982 million out of 4.8 billion people in the developing world live on $1 a day. Another 2.5 billion live on below $2 a day. 40% of the poorest population made up 5% of world income while 20% of the richest population made up 75% of global income in 2005.

A country with a GDP per capita of $765 dollars or less is defined as a low-income or poor country. You may wonder why poor countries remain poor. Some interrelated factors like geography, industrialization, colonialism, education, resources, infrastructure, overpopulation, investment, government and debt make poor countries remain the heavy foot of poverty.

Inside the Luxury Igloo Hotel

2009-02-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Perched high above the five-star hotels and heated debate amongst global leaders in the Swiss resort of Davos, an igloo hotel offers the chance to chill out and enjoy life as an Eskimo might.

Set in the midst of the groomed, snow-clad ski slopes 2600 metres up, where temperatures sometimes hang around minus 20 degrees Celsius during the daytime, the cluster of igloos nonetheless takes a few liberties with the genuine polar experience

Iglu-Dorf is built out of packed snow, but the network of 15 igloos linked by tunnels looks more like a cross between neolithic caves and an eco-housing complex perched in the Alps

"We built the complex in five weeks using giant inflatable balloons which were then covered with snow," explained Alexander Lau, one of the staff at the Davos igloos

They also offer some creature comforts that are not so common on the wild expanse of polar icecap, such as a sauna and whirlpool bath. And they were not hewn out of ice.

Once the purpose-built plastic moulds were deflated, the ideal home appeared: rooms, bathrooms, bar, restaurant, an even a conference room.

Last year, 9000 people spent a night in accommodation ranging from a more summmary standard igloo (119 euros on weekends - A$239) to the "romantik-iglu plus" (339 euros - A$682).

The igloo hotel was born out of a bet. Adrian Guenter, a Swiss snowboarding fanatic, swore he would be the first on the slopes in the morning so he built an igloo nearby. Over the years, it turned into a lucrative business

World's Most Unusual Beaches

2009-02-22T15:22:00.000-08:00

From quirky to quaint, bizarre to beautiful, our writers stretch out on some of the world's most unusual beaches.

Andrew Heasley: Sipadan Island, Malaysia. Touted as one of the top 10 diving spots in the world. Among the most spectacular sites is the "turtle graveyard": a yawning cave entrance at about 25 metres that opens into a labyrinth of caves.

Jane Reddy: Lizard Island. The island, 28 kilometres off the Far North Queensland coast, is a jumping-off point to some of the world's best diving on the Outer Great Barrier Reef.

Paola Totaro: Cenito, Naples. Cenito is a mere thumbnail of sand, an ethereal ribbon among the Posillipo cliffs, shaped by the tides and the vagaries of nature. Sometimes it is there, many times it is not

Bruce Elder: Matala Beach, Crete. This is the beach evoked by Joni Mitchell, who stayed here when she fled to Europe after breaking up with Graham Nash. In Carey from her album, Blue, she sings of the Mermaid Cafe and the warm winds that blow in from Africa

Richard Jinman: Brighton Beach, England. Brighton Beach isn't what you would call a beauty spot. It has pebbles instead of sand and water the colour of a dead fish's eyes. o matter. I adore the place and come here as often as I can.

Hamish McDonald: Caspian Sea, Iran. It was October 2001 and for me the War on Terror had hit a lull. Holed up in Tehran awaiting clearance to get to the Afghan border, I hankered for a swim in the Caspian Sea.

Daniel Fallon: Waimea Bay, O'ahu, Hawaii. Hawaii has always meant big-wave surfing. The concept of "Waimea Bay" was introduced to me as a nipper growing up next to the shore-breaking dumpers of Coogee Beach.

Kendall Hill: Jose Ignacio, Uruguay. It would be nice to think I was one of the first to discover the laidback allure of Jose Ignacio but the truth is Martin Amis, Naomi Campbell and Mario Testino beat me to it. They were the pioneers of the jetset crowd who now flock to this intimate beauty spot.

Bugs - Macro Wallpapers

2009-02-10T05:19:00.000-08:00

Alien Life of the Antarctic

2009-02-10T05:13:00.001-08:00

Polar Vessel

Three sampling expeditions aboard the German research vessel "Polarsterni" revealed hundreds of new animal species in the depths of the Southern Ocean.

Little Pincher

This image shows an isopod (Munna species) discovered in the Weddell Sea.

Pink Worm

This pink polychaete worm was discovered in the Weddell Sea.

Sea Urchin Inn

This spindly, cidaroid sea urchin has house guests: sponges, made up of millions of single-celled animals, have attached to the urchini's branches.

Slim Isopod

This serolid isopod can flatten its body to increase surface area and keep from sinking into the fine-grain sediment on the seafloor.

Red-Eyed Critter

Some of the deep-water antarcturid isopods (like the one shown) have eyes, suggesting they evolved from species that lived on the shallower continental shelf, where light penetrated to the bottom.

Ghostly Swimmer

This crustacean (Ischnomesus species) was discovered in the Weddell Sea.

Sea Spider

This Munnopsis species found in the western Weddell Sea is a type of isopod, a group of marine invertebrates (animals without backbones). The "deep-sea spider" dines on bits of food that sink to the sea floor.

Sediment Feeder

This protobranch bivalve, or animal with a shell that has two hinged valves, gathers bits of food by probing the soft sediment with a thin appendage.

Half Shell

This protobranch bivalve, discovered in the Weddell Sea, gathers bits of food by probing the soft sediment with a thin appendage.

Roly-Poly

Scientists discovered more than 200 polychaete worm species, 81 of which were previously unknown. This Ophryotrocha species, like other segmented worms, has long bristle-like appendages and it feeds on sinking organic debris called "marine snow."

Peek inside Versace's lavish home

2009-02-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

The former home of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace in Miami Beach has opened its doors to the public
Slowly, 1116 Ocean Drive opened its doors, first as an invitation-only private club, then allowing non-members to stay in its ornate rooms, and now to the masses - or at least anyone willing to plunk down $US65 ($A95.22) for a tour.
The home is full of tapestries, sculptures and paintings. The smell of fresh flowers and sound of classical music fills the air
While the downstairs of the home is exquisite, whether it's worth the price of the tour depends on your interest in art and architecture, your desire to gain access to an exclusive place, and your level of disposable income
Pass through the limestone arch, into the courtyard of Casa Casuarina, and the fuss all makes sense. The trickle of water from a fountain, the shift of clouds above, the tickle of Atlantic breezes - the simple beauty of each is enhanced by the home's lavishness.
Every inch of this place, every detail, is full of thought and history and detail. And yet it feels intimate and generally not over-the-top.

Versace's touches are everywhere, often in the form of his Medusa head logo, which is seen in gold, on gates and railings, in stone mosaics even on shower drains

Outside, tourists flock to the cast-iron gates, taking pictures all hours of the day. It is not until you enter, though, that you truly sense its magnificence.

The name-dropping here doesn't stop. The Wedgwood Suite was Cher's favourite; the Safari Suite (pictured) was Elton John's. A photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton hangs in a cigar lounge.

10 Highest Lakes on Earth

2009-02-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

Image Fahim

10. Lake Saiful-Muluk: 3,224 m (10,577 ft)

To the north of Kaghan Valley near Naran, in Pakistan, sits the impressive Lake Saiful-Muluk. At an altitude of 3,224 m (10,577 ft) above sea level, this glacial lake is one of the highest in Pakisan, and judging by the vibrant colors captured in these images, certainly one of the most beautiful.

Image msuhail

The surrounding glaciers feed the lake, so the size of it is dependent on snow fall from the previous season. Some say it has shrunk quite considerably in recent years, but it hasn’t stopped locals travelling to the site to have a quick dip on sunny days – well it would have to be quick!

Image Ashan

9. Lake Titicaca: 3,812 m (12,464 ft)

Image Vico Ricab

Otherwise known as Lake of the Clouds, Titicaca in Bolivia and Peru sits at an altitude of 3,812 m (12,464 ft), and while it is not the highest lake on Earth – which it’s often mistaken for – it certainly is the highest navigable lake (by large boats). In some parts, the lake is more than 1,200 feet deep so can easily accommodate large vessels, and with an area of about 3,200 square miles to cover, they’re very much needed.

Image Columbus GV Team

The name Titicaca derives from the wildcats that live on the lake’s islands, called titi. Titicaca was a sacred place for the Inca civilization. The first Inca king was said to be born here and according to Inca mythology, Titicaca is where the world was created, by the god Viracocha. Legend has it that Viracocha rose from the depths of the lake to form the sun, the stars and the first people. The area is still very dear to its inhabitants today, especially the Uros people, who live on the lake on floating islands made of reeds.

Image Micamonkey via Acroamatic

8. Laguna Colorada: 4,500 m (14,763 ft)

Image Ole Begemann

Laguna Colorada lies to the southwest of the Bolivian Altiplano, near the border Chile, and sits at 4,500 meters (14,763ft) above sea level. The lake’s striking colors change according to the levels of salt, sediments or algae present, although the lake is best known for its dark red color.

Found within Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, the lake is a favorite feeding ground with migrating flamingos that stop by to gorge in the shallow, borax rich waters. It is this mineral borax, a white powder that dissolves easily in water, which produces the lake’s signature white patches.

Image Dudu Figueirdo

Part of Uyuni Salt Plains, Laguna Colorada is just one highlight of many popular with trekkers to the Bolivian Altiplano. Here there is only one building, the Salt Hotel, which is constructed entirely of salt from the surrounding area and features salt figurines and salt furniture.

Image Ole Begemann

7. Lake Tso Moriri: 4,595 (15,080 ft)

Image Richdrogpa

Tsomoriri Lake, within Tsomoriri Wetland Conservation Reserve in Ladakh, India lies on the Changthang (northern plains) at an altitude of 4,595 m (15,080 ft). It is one of the largest lakes in the Trans-himalayan region and is accessible during the summer months only – the area is cut off by heavy snows for the remainder of the year.

The lie of the land means that the melting waters of surrounding snow-coered mountains flow into the Changthang basin, forming a fresh-water lake which is topped up with every melt.

Image Richdrogpa

6. Lake Namtso: 4,718 m (15,479 ft)

Image Nice Logo

Otherwise known as Heaven Lake, Namtso sits at an elevation of 4,718 m (15,479 ft) on the border of China and Tibet. It is the highest salt lake in the world and the second largest salt lake in Tibet. The climate is harsh with frequent sudden snowstorms yet the lake is still very popular with migrating and resident birds.

Image Peter Vigier

Five uninhabited islands on the lake were once used as spiritual retreats. Pilgrims would access the islands when the lake was frozen over in the winter months, taking everything they would need to survive. They would be stranded on the island, unable to leave until the waters froze again the following winter.

Since China governs Tibet the practice is no longer allowed. Though the lake is still a scared site, which is evident in the numerous prayer flags leading to and from Holy Rock on the edge of the lake.

5. Lake Gurudongmar: 5,148 m (17,100 ft)

Image debasish_roy2000

Lying on the north side of the Khangchengyao Range close to the Indo-China border is the second highest lake in India, Lake Gurudongmar. It was named after Guru Padmasambhava (also known as Guru Dongmar, or Guru Nanak) who was said to have been responsible for bringing Tantric Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet in the 8th century.

Located in the northern part of Sikkim, the lake sits at an altitude of 5,148 m (17,100 ft), yet is still frequented annually by pilgrims who claim the waters have curative qualities.

Image Himalaya Tourism

During the winter months, Gurudongmar Lake is almost completely frozen over except for one small section of the lake, which local Sikkimese and Buddhists believe to be touch and blessed by the lakes namesake, Guru Padmasambhava.

Image Amit Mitra

4. Panch Pokhari: 5,494 m (18,025 ft)

Image Sponsor Trek

High in the peaks of Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, Nepal are the five sacred lakes of Panch Pokhari – the highest named lakes in the world. Found on a little travelled route about 6 km east of Ama Dablam, in Arun River Valley, Panch Pokhari is a revered pilgrimage site for Hindus, about 5,494 m (18,025 ft) above sea level.

Image Summit Post

The area is also popular with trekkers to the area, but only those able to cope with the dizzying effects of altitude. Trekkers are often amazed to find rural villages and people working in the terraced fields, even in such a remote place where they struggle to breathe. The head mix of awesome scenery, biodiversity and culture is well worth the climb, according to those who’ve made it.

Image Explore Himalaya

3&4. Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde: 6,390 m (20,965 ft)

Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde sit at base of Licancabur volcano, which also has a small lake within its crater, at an altitude of approximately 6,390 m (20,965 ft). Also located in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve in Bolivia, the lakes, although now divided were thought to be one large lake.

Image Rasta Chango

Laguna Verde
Laguna Verde is the larger of the two with a surface of 17 km2. It’s wonderful green color is caused by the presence of minerals and noxious sediments including copper, calcium, arsenic and lead. Even still, regardless of the water concentration, hoards of planktonic fauna and bacteria survive in its waters.

Image ik_kil

Image via soneunviaje

Image abmiller

Laguna Blanca
Laguna Blanca has a lower concentration of these elements so appears white, although visitors to the lakes have said that the color changes when the wind stirs up the copper, as it does with Laguna Verde.

Image Anlopelope

1. Ojos del Salada: 6,891 m (20,964 ft)

Image via Andes
Sitting at the foot of the highest volcano in the world, Ojos del Salado, which is 6,891 m high, is an unnamed crater pool measuring just 100 meters in diameter and five to ten meters deep. Found on the Argentinean-Chilean border, even without a name the tiny lake is regarded as the highest body of water in the world at 6390 m (20,964 ft) high. A bit of an anticlimax for the highest lake on Earth!

Actual Highest Lakes in the World:

10. Damavand Pool 5,650 m 18,536 ft Iran
9. Poquentica Lake: 5,750 m 18,865 ft Chile-Bolivia
8. Ridonglabo Lake: 5,801 m 19,032 ft Tibet
7. Aguas Calientes Pool: 5,831 m 19,130 ft Chile
6. Lake Licancbur (Laguna Verde): 5,916 m 19,410 ft Chile-Bolivia
5. Acamarachi Pool: 5,950 m 19,520 ft Chile
4. East Rongbuk Pool: 6,100 20,013 Tibet
3. Changtse Pool: 6,216 m 20,394 Tibet
2. Lhagba Pool: 6,368 m 20,892 ft Tibet
1. Ojos del Salado Pool: 6,390 m 20,965 ft Argentina

First View of the Dark Side of the Sun

2009-02-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

Soon we may get the first ever glimpse of the dark side of the sun.

Well, no, there's no actual dark side of a luminous ball of burning gas, but there is an effective dark side, as in, the side of the sun we can't see at any given time.

Scientists aren't content to get just half of the picture, so they've launched the STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatories) mission, a pair of NASA spacecraft that will orbit the sun simultaneously to provide a complete view of all sides of the star at once.

"Then there will be no place to hide and we can see the entire sun for the first time," STEREO project scientist Michael Kaiser of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center told Wired.com.

The perfect spherical view will come on Feb. 6, 2011. Right now the satellites, which were launched in October 2006, are about 90 degrees apart, which allows a picture of about 270 degrees of the sun — the fullest view yet.

"The who goal of all of this is to try to get a better handle to try to predict solar storms, which cause cell phone disturbances, and disruptions to communications and power." Kaiser said. "We'd like to be able to predict these things as far in advance as possible to give us a longer warning time."

Solar storms are magnetic disruptions on the sun that release violent sprays of charged particles into space. These storms can produce magnificent displays of the Northern Lights. But some past storms have also cost airlines and satellite communications industries millions of dollars, and have led to large scale power blackouts (including one across the entire province of Quebec, Canada). Being able to reliably forecast these tempests in advance could make a huge difference in preventing disturbances on Earth.

Predicting solar weather is also important for the future of manned spaceflight. If astronauts are exposed to the intense radiation from solar storms while traveling beyond the protective magnetic field of the Earth, they could suffer serious harm. Even astronauts close to home who venture out for a spacewalk during a storm are put in danger.

"For future missions going to the moon and Mars, that's very important," Kaiser said. "Some of these solar storms can be very intense. If the astronauts were completely exposed to one of these storms the radiation could be high."

The STEREO mission also aims to improve our basic scientific understanding of the dynamics within the sun, which could shed light on the workings of stars in general.

Weirdest Deformed Animals of the World

2009-02-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

This is a collection of extraordinary rare and weird deformed animals.

A Deformed Lamb

This seven-legged lamb was photographed when it was found on July 31, 2007, at the farm at Methven near to Christ Church which is situated in the South Island of New Zealand. The veterinarian, Steve Williams believed that this deformity was caused by a misprint in embryo formation. Due to this scientific reason, the lamb was being born polydactyl (or with many legs). He further remarked that this is a common condition that may have occurred once in every several million sheep.

A Deformed Giraffe

This was Gemina, a giraffe which was found to have a dominant crooked neck joining to its body at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Unfortunately, it died on January 9, 2008.

Two Deformed Snakes

As seen in the photo, this albino snake was born with two heads. The strange feature for such snake is that its two separate mouths were connected to the same stomach. Usually, the snake, which was born with this deformed characteristic, would not live longer. As a result, its life may be as short as two months. Nevertheless, the snake that you see in the picture had unexpectedly survived for a long life span of 8 years.

A Deformed Cow

This unusual six-legged Cambodian cow was found resting at the farm near to the Cambodia city, Phnom Penh on October 7, 2003. The monks from the local pagoda who scared of getting bad fortune that would bring by the cow, later named it as “Cham Leck.” (Literally means “strange”).

A Deformed Octopus

This six-legged octopus or “hexapus” was found by the British marine experts. They claimed that this was the first unusual sea creature discovered among the octopus families. It was observed to have two limbs lesser than its normal species. His keepers at the Blackpool Sea Life Centre which is situated in the northwest of England believed that its deformity was due to the birth defect instead of the casual accident.

A Deformed Duckling

One deformed duckling called “Stumpy” was found at Warrawee Duck Farm in Copythorne, Hamphire (a country on the south coast of England), England. This duckling was born in 2007 with four legs which is unusual to a typical duck that has two legs. While examining this duckling, the scientist found that it has two unusual legs grown out behind its normal pair of legs. According to its owner, the duck has no problem with its daily activities despite these deformed legs which was caused by a rare mutation. These two legs seemed to support its movement.

A Deformed Reptile Fossil

Scientists have long found the double-headed fossil. From the laboratory sample, this aquatic reptile was identified died at its very young age before forming into a fossil. This extinct adult reptile was diagnosed to grow as long as one meter. Its relatively long neck marked its unusual feature among its species.

Two Deformed Calves

Before New Year's Eve, one unusual and unexplainable phenomenon occurred in a dairy farm in Virginia, an American state on the Atlantic Coast of the southern United States. A mother cow gave birth to a calf with two faces on December 27, 2006. This calf was believed to be a product of artificial insemination. There was not much of a difference from this calf and other ordinary ones when viewing it from its neck until to its tail. Nevertheless, the rare characteristic for such “double-sided” calf was that it has a relatively unusual large head. It breathed out of two noses, and has two tongues, which moved independently.

This six-legged calf was born on April 29, 2007 at the farm of Brian Slocum of Litchfield. The calf was diagnosed to have both male and female reproductive organs.

Deformed Tortoises

This tortoise was seen on June 24, 2007, in Huaibei which is located in the eastern part of Anhui Province of China. The local media reported that its gourd shaped resembling a large fruit with a hard skin and soft juicy flesh inside was the result of a gene mutation. That means the gene mutation has contributed to its aberration, a condition of a temporary change from what is normal or acceptable among its species.

Two Deformed Kittens

This two-faced kitten was born in Inverness, Fla. It has one esophagus, two noses and four eyes. This photo was pictured while its owner, Cobra Macini was feeing his beloved kitten.

One unusual event happened in Oregon City in the United States. A kitten was born with only one large eye grown on the position of its nose on December 28, 2005. This type of deformity is known as Holoprosencephaly. Besides one eye, the kitten was also found to have no nose at all. This deformed kitten finally died two days after it was born.

A Deformed Crocodile

These baby crocodiles were born in June 2001, at the Samut Prakarn Crocodile Farm which is located on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately, they were born with their bodies joined together at their bottom part. They were reptiles identified for having two tails and eight legs.

A Deformed Chicken

A chicken with four legs was discovered on September 21, 2006, in one of the chicken farms in the United States. This chicken was different from other normal chickens as it has four very long legs attached beneath its body.

Deformed Pigs

The research team from the Taiwan University succeeded in producing three green fluorescent pigs. According to the professor of the University, Prof. Dr. Wu, these three green fluorescent pigs were the outcomes of this experiment, in which the green fluorescent genes from the jellyfish were implanted into three transgenic pig embryos. It produced three pigs that have their entire bodies emitting green fluorescent light.

A Deformed Turtle

The local people in Costa Rica happened to come across the rarely seen double-headed turtle lying on the shore. This turtle did not have a typical appearance of a turtle, as it had two brains grown out on its front. The turtle in the photo was hatched on the beach on November 20, 2005 in this deformed manner when it was found.

Two Deformed Frogs

In 1995, many seriously deformed leopard frogs were discovered around the lakes and rivers in the wetlands of the United States. According to reliable sources, several species with these deformities have been found across Minnesota, and into neighboring South Dakota, Quebec and Wisconsin over years. Among these deformed frogs, some were found with three legs, some were found to be handicapped of legs, and some even have four to five legs. When this news spread, it quickly drew the attention of environmental experts. New research identifies that such deformities have been caused partly due to runoff from farming and ranching. This conclusion was supported by the study of a University of Colorado, as they agreed that the growing number of deformed frogs were primarily caused by the nutrient-rich runoff from farming and ranching as indicated by the new research.

Amazing Castle & Palace Hotels

2009-02-04T16:55:00.000-08:00

When it comes to romance, luxury and living a dream come true, it’s hard to top a night in a castle - well, unless it’s two nights. These 15 exquisite castle hotels offer us regular folks the chance to live like kings and queens; all it takes is a reservation. Best of all, checking out will only cost you the contents of your wallet - not your head.

England: Best Western Walworth Castle Hotel

Dating from the 12th century, Walworth Castle has witnessed the Black Death, the Wars of the Roses, the Elizabethan Era & William Shakespeare, and much, much more on down to the modern age. With all that history under its belt, the “Best Western” seems a bit incongruous. No matter though, Walworth is open for guests and offers 4-poster tower suites with double Jacuzzi baths. A “knight” to remember, indeed, but bear in mind: the Best Western Walworth Castle Hotel is a non-smoking property so please check your witches and heretics at the door.

Ireland: Fitzpatricks Castle Hotel Dublin

If you think a castle is a cold, drafty, pile of stone more suited to vermin than humans, think again and remember, the Middle Ages are history. Fitzpatricks Castle Hotel Dublin was built in 1741 but updates have come fast & furious since it ceased fighting off conquerors and started accepting paying guests. Fitzpatricks offers a clean & cozy swimming pool, for example… what, you thought you’d be taking a dip in the moat?

Ireland: Waterford Castle Hotel And Golf Club

Ireland is a land of castles and one of the finest offering lodging is the 16th century Waterford Castle Hotel. The huge, partly moss-covered stone edifice is situated on a 310-acre private island. It’s located near Waterford City in County Waterford and - you guessed it - close to the Waterford Crystal factory.

Denmark: Hvedholm Slot

Denmark boasts a wide variety of beautiful castles, some of which have been turned into luxurious 5-star hotels. Hvedholm Slot, located in the southern Danish province of Funen, was originally built in 1570 and was extensively renovated and upgraded in the 19th century.

Spain: Castle Alarcon

The spectacular Castle Alarcon dates back 1200 years to the time of the Visigoths, a tribe lost to history but who have left their mark in the form of castles, forts and early planned cities. Castle Alarcon has been refurbished and fitted out to meet the demands of tourists seeking an authentic castle experience without sacrificing any modern conveniences. Only 15 rooms are available but each one is expansive without being overly expensive.

Italy: Gritti Palace Hotel

There’s nothing gritty about the Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice, Italy. This outstanding hotel was built in the year 1525 for Andrea Gritti, Doge of Venice. The Doge was the top dog in those days and the Gritti Palace shows off his wealth, status and preference for a view of the Grand Canal. Patronized by the world’s rich & famous for decades, the Gritti Palace Hotel swathes its guests in ornate furnishings old Andrea himself would find most comfortable.

Poland: Reszel Castle

Reszel Castle in northern Poland was built in the 14th century by the Teutonic Knights, an ultra-religious warrior organization charged by the Pope with conducting the Northern Crusade. The castle changed hands many times over the centuries, and for a time was used by Prussia as a prison. These days, Reszel Castle is hoping - like the rest of eastern Europe - to reap the rewards of capitalism. Only 12 rooms are available which ensures plenty of peace & quiet for guests seeking a teu-tonic from the rat race.

Hungary: Castle Hotel Almásy

The age of aristocracy was a golden one in Hungary, where the luxurious Castle Hotel Almásy is located. The Dukes of Almásy were well-off even by the standards of the Dual Monarchy and this particular castle was a gift from one of the Dukes to his daughter. Nice guy! Wars, revolutions and the heavy tread of the Iron Curtain have relegated Hungary’s feudal era to the back pages of history books but “here, in this environment, the world of the Aristocrats remained the same. Here they experienced that they were different and better from the outside world.” And, for a limited time, so can paying guests.

Slovenia: Mokrice Castle Hotel

Farther south lies the Mokrice Castle Hotel, set jewel-like in a century-old forest in eastern Slovenia. Mokrice Castle Hotel offers 29 guest rooms, thermal baths and even Internet access. It’s prime attraction, however, is an 18-hole golf course specially designed to incorporate the area’s natural beauty.

Canada: Chateau Frontenac

The Chateau Frontenac towers over Québec City, the only city in North America with old-style city walls. It overlooks The Citadelle, a 17th century star-shaped fort built to protect the capital of New France from foreign and native invaders. Built in 1893, the Chateau Frontenac is a five-star hotel that offers old world luxury in one of North America’s oldest and loveliest cities.

USA: The Hotel Hershey

The Hotel Hershey in Hershey, PA is a monumental achievement that can be credited to one man: Milton Hershey. The chocolate magnate had set out, in the depths of the Great Depression, to create a monument to extravagance, excellence and the pursuit of luxurious relaxation. Some have compared the hotel, which opened in 1933, to French King Louis XIV’s palace of Versailles. There’s one thing The Hotel Hershey can offer that Versailles cannot, however, and that is its famed Chocolate Spa.

China: Grand Castle Hotel Xian

China isn’t known for its castles and few outside of Beijing have stood the test of time, war and revolution. Modern China is looking to recapture both its ancient glory and along with it, some tourist dollars by going beyond steel and concrete to its imperial roots. The Grand Castle Hotel Xian is such an effort, designed to reflect the glory of the Ming Dynasty by styling itself after the city of Xian’s ancient Big Goose Pagoda. Inside, all mod cons are on tap for visitors who come for the history but stay for the luxury.

New Zealand: Larnach Castle

Larnach Castle was built by a wealthy rancher near Dunedin, New Zealand. While guests cannot stay in the restored castle itself, a separate outbuilding offers a dozen plus two themed rooms along with some unique views of the Southern Ocean.

Australia: Castle Hotel York

A castle in Australia? Though not settled by Europeans until after 1788, the Land Down Under boasts its fair share of historic buildings. One of the most famous is the Castle Hotel York, perched just east of Perth on the edge of the Outback. Built in 1853 using convict labor, the hotel was owned by the original Craig family into the 1980s before being refurbished and upgraded with period furniture and fittings.

India: The Lake Palace Hotel

The Lake Palace in Udaipur, India, rises out of beautiful blue Lake Pichola like something out of a romantic dream. One can’t imagine how a structure so large - the modern hotel has 84 rooms - was constructed in the middle of a lake 250 years ago but we may assume that whatever Maharajah Jagat Singh II asked for, he got. Today the ultra-luxurious Lake Palace Hotel asks that guests pay upwards of $540 per night for a deluxe room and the princely sum of $1,520 for the Grand Royal Suite.

from - weburbanist.com

The 9 Most Extreme Places on the Planet

2009-02-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Imagine living in a place so remote the mail only comes once a year. Or reaching the summit of the highest place on earth…which isn’t Mt. Everest. Read on to learn about some of the most extreme places on the planet.

Highest Point on Earth…Sort of

At 29,029 feet (8848 meters), Mt. Everest is famed as the highest peak on earth. And that’s true. It’s also not true. It all depends on how one looks at it. Technically, Mt. Everest’s rocky peak is the highest bit of land from sea level. But because the earth isn’t a perfect sphere, certain lower points are in effect “higher” in space. Mt. Everest is less close to the moon and stars than another mountain which is relatively unknown. And that is Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador. It’s just over 20,000 feet high, so while it’s not as tall as Mt. Everest, it is actually closer to outer space due to the shape of the earth.

Highest Point Accessible by Vehicle

In Tibet, the stark Semo La road is over 20,000 feet high and takes you through hauntingly beautiful vistas and a treacherous mountain pass. Word has it that Marsimik La is the highest road on earth; but it all comes down to what one might consider an accessible road. Semo La can be used by vehicles. Authorities believe there may be other, higher roads, even more remote, but so far they have not been documented.

ristan de Cunha: Most Remote Island on Earth

The most remote inhabited island group in the world, Tristan de Cunha in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is so tiny its main island has no airstrip. Home to 272 people sharing just 8 surnames, inhabitants suffer from hereditary complaints like asthma and glaucoma. Annexed by the United Kingdom in the 1800s, the island’s inhabitants have a British postal code and, while they can order things online, it takes a very long time for their orders to arrive. But then, that’s the trade off for having your own island settlement some 2,000 miles from the nearest continent.

Deepest Point in the Ocean

The Marianas Trench, off of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, is the deepest point in the world’s oceans. It it over 7 miles - more than 36,000 feet - deep. If Mt. Everest were placed in the trench the summit would be more than a mile under the surface. The pressure at the bottom of the trench is more than 1,000 times stronger than at sea level. The United States Navy sent two naval officers to the bottom in a vessel called the Trieste in 1960. They observed fish, shrimp and other creatures living on the bottom of the sea floor.

Lowest Point on Earth

The Dead Sea is the lowest place on land that’s below sea level, at 1,378 feet. On the border of Jordan and Israel, the road around the Dead Sea also happens to be the lowest road on earth. Famous for its salinity (over ten times that of the Mediterranean Sea), the Dead Sea is said to be home of the first health retreat. Because of the extreme salt content, no life can survive in the sea, hence the name.

Coldest Place on Earth - and Driest, and Wettest…Huh?

Antarctica is a land of extremes. It’s not inhabited year round by humans because it’s simply too freezing cold. In 1983 scientists recorded extreme cold temperatures as low as -129 Fahrenheit. It’s also the wettest place on earth, but simultaneously the driest. The reason it’s the “wettest” is not because of rainfall; since Antarctica is covered by 98% ice, it’s technically very wet. However since it’s also the aforementioned coldest place in the world, it gets very little precipitation - less than 2 inches a year. Which makes Antarctica a desert. A brutally cold ice desert with a massive trench full of even more…ice. Three for the price of one!

Biggest Pure Vertical Drop on Earth

Mount Thor, in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada, presents a 4,100 foot pure vertical drop. Mt. Thor is Canada’s most famous peak, and it’s made of pure granite. It’s a favorite of thrill seekers and climbers. There have been a few recent rappel expeditions, with one fatality in 2006.

Deepest Ice on Earth

The Bentley Subglacial Trench in Antarctica is phenomenally thick ice, going 8,383 feet deep. It’s the lowest point on earth that isn’t covered by ocean, but the honor still goes to the Dead Sea for lowest point, as the Dead Sea is technically “on” land and the Bentley Trench is technically covered with water (ice). The trench is the same size as Mexico.

Hottest Place on Earth

Death Valley is famously blistering hot, but the hottest place ever officially recorded to outdo Death Valley’s amazing heat is El Azizia in Libya. In 1922 the temperature reached 136 degrees. Death Valley’s hottest temperature on record is 134 degrees. When it’s that hot, what’s another two degrees really

Peek Inside 1930 Siberian Mine

2009-02-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

I think that you will like those pictures which are from old Siberian mine from 1930 year. As you can see it’s really cold there, I suppose that it was not so easy to work in this mine at that time.

Cute attack! Siberian tiger cub Antares at the Berlin Zoo

2009-02-04T16:35:00.001-08:00

Six week old Siberian tiger cub ‘Antares’ is presented at the Tierpark Friedrichsfelde zoo in Berlin August 4, 2008. [Agencies]

Aerial Views

2009-02-02T17:50:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Animal Photography

2009-02-02T17:35:00.000-08:00

The dalmatian who gave birth to a bumper litter of EIGHTEEN pups

2009-02-02T17:29:00.000-08:00

She hasn't quite expanded her family to 101, but Button has still produced a pretty impressive number of little dalmatians.

The three-year-old dog has given birth to a litter of 18, just a year after having 16 pups.

Her litter is thought to be the largest born to a dalmatian in the UK. The average is about eight or nine.

The 10 Most Spectacular Train Journeys in the World

2009-02-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

Glacier Express

Taking almost eight hours to complete its journey, the Glacier Express has a reputation for being the slowest ‘express’ in the world - but it’s also one of the most beautiful. Linking the two mountain resorts of St. Moritz and Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, the journey covers 291 bridges and 91 tunnels.

At its highest point, the Glacier Express reaches 2,033 meters (6,670 feet) in altitude at the Oberalp Pass as it travel through some of the most stunning mountain scenery Europe has to offer: alpine meadows, mountain streams, snow peaked mountains and glacial valleys.

Harzer Schmalspurbahnen

Situated in the Harz mountains of central Germany, this route connects the main cities of Wernigerode, Nordhausen and Quedlinburg, as well as several smaller towns in the region. It passes over 140 km (87 miles) of steep track, through stunning forest and mountain scenery.

Renowned for being the longest narrow gauge track in Germany and featuring only steam locomotives, the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen is a unique way to discover this relatively unexplored area of Germany.

Eurostar

What better way to reach the continent for a weekend break, or the start of longer travels? With the completion of the high-speed rail link and the opening of a new station at St. Pancras, only 2:15 hours separate central Paris and central London.

Eurostar now operates from three English terminals–London, Ashford, and Ebbsfleet–and offers direct services to northern France, Central Paris, Disneyland Paris, Brussels, and ‘Snow Train’ routes to southern France, all at a top speed of 300 KmH (186 mph).

The Orient Express

The setting of mystery novels, dozens of films, and witness to countless romantic encounters, the original (and some would argue the best) ‘Great Rail Journey’ offers luxury from a bygone era while visiting some of the continent’s best cities: London, Venice, Rome, Budapest and Prague.

The West Highland Railway

The West Highland Line, running from Glasgow to Fort William and Mallaig, is one of Britain’s top rail journeys, taking passengers back to a time when steam was the way to travel. It passes through the wild Rannoch Moor, and through hills and bogs within view of Ben Nevis - Scotland’s highest peak.

One of the highlights of the journey is passing over the Glenfinnan Viaduct- one of the largest concrete engineering feats of the late 19th century (and more popularly known for appearing in the Harry Potter films).

The Trans Siberian Railway

The Trans Siberian Railway is the ultimate rail journey, the longest in the world (and possibly the coldest if you go at the wrong time of year), a journey of almost mythical proportions that spans two continents while staying in a single country.

There are three routes that travelers can take to explore the Siberian expanse: The Moscow-to-Vladivostok route at over 9,000 km (6,000 miles), and two routes from Moscow to Beijing: one through Mongolia, taking six days and almost 8000km (5000 miles), or one which takes almost a week to complete and travels via Manchuria.

Without leaving your seat, you pass through the end of Europe and cross almost the width of Asia, clattering your way across nearly a third of the globe.

Jungfraubahn

At only 9km (5.5 miles), great railway journeys don’t get much shorter than the Jungfraubahn. Running from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch, this Swiss cog railway runs almost entirely though a tunnel built into the infamous Eiger.

Two stations in the middle of the tunnel allow passengers to disembark and look out over stunning mountain views. However, though it’s a short trip, this classic route does not come cheap.

The Flam Railway

The Flam Railway runs 20km (12 miles) between Myrdal, at 865 meters (2838 feet) above sea level, down to the fjords of Flam. This is an incredible feat of engineering, one of the steepest non-cog railways in the world and Norway’s most spectacular tourist attraction.

Boasting views over part of the world’s longest fjord - Sognefjord - as well as deep river valleys and airy peaks, the train seemingly clings to the side of the mountains in an unforgettable journey.

The Danube Express

Explore the very best of Eastern Europe with luxury train travel on the ‘Hotel on Wheels’. From the mythical Transylvania and the fairy tale cities of Budapest and Prague to Sofia and Krakow, the Danube Express offers six classic journeys across the former Soviet states, combining rich history and beautiful cities with stunning scenery.

For those with a longing for the classic days of rail travel, there is even the option to combine voyages into an epic Central and Eastern Europe exploration.

The Stendhal

Board in Paris in the evening and wake up in Venice the following morning. Saying goodbye to the City of Lights, the journey takes in picturesque French villages and the hills of southern France before taking the Simplon Tunnel under the Alps.

With a range of sleepers available- from six and four berth couchettes to one to three berth sleepers, the Stendhal doesn’t have the luxury or reputation of many other trains sharing the same track, but with tickets starting from around $60 one way, it is a timeless (and cheap) way to visit one of the greatest cities in Italy.

Sun, sea and sewage in the playground of the rich in Dubai

2009-01-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

A noxious tide of toilet paper, raw sewage and chemical waste has transformed Dubai’s most prestigious stretch of shoreline into a foul-smelling health hazard.

A stretch of the exclusive Jumeirah Beach — a magnet for Western tourists and home to a string of hotels — has been closed.

“It’s a cesspool. Our tests show too many E. coli to count. It’s like swimming in a toilet,” said Keith Mutch, the manager of the Offshore Sailing Club, which has posted warnings and been forced to cancel regattas.

The pollution is a blow to Dubai’s reputation as an international holiday destination offering almost guaranteed sunshine and clear seas.

The debate over who is to blame is also turning toxic, pitting the city’s wealthy expatriates against local authorities, who have been criticised for failing to stop lorry drivers dumping human and industrial waste into the ocean.

The row also illustrates how Dubai’s rapid development threatens to outpace the Emirates’ ability to enforce environmental standards, angering the foreigners that the boom town seeks to attract. Mr Mutch first detected trouble during a walk on the beach last summer.

“The stench was unbearable and the water was a muddy brown. There was toilet paper in the sand,” he recalled.

He traced the sludge to a storm drain, buried behind a pile of rocks near the dock. It was spewing effluent into the sea.

He followed the drain several kilometres inland to the Al Quoz industrial area, which houses the cement, paint and furniture factories that have helped to fuel the city’s rapid growth.

There he discovered that dozens of sewage lorries carrying human waste from Dubai’s 1.3 million inhabitants emptied their tanks into storm drains such as the one leading to the sailing club. The drains, all connected, were built to carry excess water that falls during Dubai’s short rainy season.

According to some truckers — mostly poor workers from southern Asia – illegal dumping of waste is a purely financial decision.

source: timesonline.co.uk

Mosque in Brunei

2009-01-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque

Built: 1958 Cost: USD $5,000,000 Type: Holy place Observation deck: Yes Location: Kampong Ayer, Bandar Seri Begawan (formerly Brunei Town)

A mazing in appearance, but too beautiful to be true, The Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is Brunei's proudest architectural achievement.

It sits on an artificial lagoon near the Brunei River in Kampong Ayer, which is appropriately enough, known as a "water village."

A structure in the water that resembles a ship was at one time used for official state ceremonies.

The mosque is the largest in the Far East, and considered among the most beautiful in the world. It reaches a height of 52 meters and is topped with a gold dome supported by walls of Italian marble, which also forms the mosque's columns, arches, and towers.

The stained glass was hand made in England and the carpets are Saudi Arabian

The Great White Shark - Fearsome Hunter

2009-01-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

The Great White Shark is the largest known predatory fish in the sea, at the top of its food chain with no natural predators. They’re equipped with two of the most powerful sensing mechanisms in Nature, a highly developed sense of smell, and the ability to sense the electrical fields radiating from living creatures. Also known as the white shark, white pointer, blue pointer, man-eater, and manila shark, this killing machine averages a length up to 20 feet (6 meters) and 5,000 pounds (2,270 kilos).

Great White Sharks bear a set of nostrils near the tip of their conical snout, used solely for olfactory purposes to sniff out their prey, while breathing through their gills. The nostrils are divided by a small flap of skin separating the water into 2 flows, one incoming and one outgoing. The flow passes through a section with countless small sensory organs called lamellae, shaped like tiny flower petals covered with millions of olfactory cells. These cells are linked directly to the center of the brain responsible for detecting odors.

But the secret weapon in the Great White’s arsenal are ampullae — small pore-like markings on the snout — which provide the shark with the ability to sense the electrical fields of their prey. Each is a minute capsule filled with a gel like substance the shark excretes, sensitive to electrical discharges as low as .005 micro volts. This remarkable sensitivity is due to both the large number of ampullae, and their numerous sensory cells in each to pick up the signal which is also directly linked to the brain.

Every living creature in the sea discharges a small electrical field. Mucous membranes that coat the mouth and gills of fish also create steady current fields affected by their breathing patterns. A wounded bleeding animal produces yet another set of electrical information.

By their ability to discern these sets of information, Great Whites can detect and distinguish between prey swimming peacefully, those moving quickly in panic, and those which might be bleeding and debilitated. Recent research on interactions between great whites and various species of seals and sea lions suggests that great whites also hunt their prey visually.

These 2 sensory mechanisms make for an inescapable and formidable predator.

Food and Feeding Behavior
While young, White sharks feed on fish, rays, and other sharks, and as they begin to mature they’ll feed on marine mammals and forage for large animal carcasses. Progressing to small harbor seals, they hunt sea lions, elephant seals, and small toothed whales as they increase in size. Occasionally feeding on sea turtles and sea otters, they’ve been known to attack but not eat humans.

Camouflaging themselves near rocky bottoms, they’ll watch for unsuspecting prey near the surface. Once an animal is sighted, they accelerate quickly to the surface and ram into their kill from beneath, simultaneously stunning it and inflicting a large, potentially fatal bite. They then return to feed on the carcass.

World Range & Habitat
Great Whites have one of the widest geographic ranges of any marine animal, found in all cold temperate and tropical waters from 60°N latitude to 60°S latitude. Recent satellite tracking studies reveal that they migrate long distances, sometimes crossing entire oceans.

They can be found along the central California coast hunting near elephant seal haul-out areas from October through March, and off the western cape of South Africa near cape fur seal haul-outs from May to September. In North American waters, they’ve been reported from Newfoundland to Florida, and from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska to southern Mexico. Nowhere in its range is the white shark very common, and are becoming increasingly rare.

Great White Shark Attack
The cunning Great White appears almost to be toying with this seal
prior to its ferocious attack.

Is There "Unstoppable Global Warming Every 1,500 Years"?-A Contrary Point of View

2009-01-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

Last year, a week after the Harvard Crimson published a shocking editorial chiding Nobel Laureate Al Gore, Stanford University held a luncheon entitled "Is Global Warming a Myth?"

To erase any doubts about our position on global warming, The Daily Galaxy believes that common sense dictates that human technological civilization has impacted natural climatic cycles.

The Stanford guest speaker was the world-renowned global warming skeptic S. Frederick Singer, a former space scientist and government scientific administrator.

Singer, who holds PhD in Physics from Princeton University, was a Special adviser to President Eisenhower on space developments, a professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia, and co-author of Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years.

In this New York Times bestseller, authors Singer and co-author Avery present the compelling concept that global temperatures have been rising mostly or entirely because of a natural cycle. Using historic data from two millennia of recorded history combined with natural physical records, they argue that the 1,500 year natural sunspot magnetic waves cycle that has always controlled the earth's climate remains the driving force in the current warming trend. Man created carbon dioxide has very little effect on the earth's climate.

Since the 1,500 year cycle was discovered in the early 1980's it's general characteristics have been confirmed by measurements in: tree rings (living, preserved and fossilized), pollen, coral, glaciers, boreholes, stalagmites, tree lines, and sea sediments. The most recent cycles have been recorded in human history with forced migrations, starvation, and disease during the cold portion of the cycle and greater population, expanded farm land, greater crop variety, and extra building during the warm portion.

The causes of the 1,500 year cycle are not well understood although 600 of them have been identified in the last million years. This permits the authors to be relatively confident that we have been moving into the warm phase of the cycle for the last 150 years. It also suggests that we may have one or two degrees more warming if we are to get to the typical high of the warm phase.

Although the warm phase of the cycle has been typically more regular than the cold phase, it does not move steadily to a peak and then fall off, but rather moves abruptly higher at the start of the warm phase followed by highly irregular (but modestly higher) temperatures for hundreds of years.

Singer explained that the recent warming the Earth has experienced is not dangerous and is not something humans could alter. Global warming activists such as Al Gore, Singer believes, are hyping the problem. He said that such activists have not come close to demonstrating that human-generated greenhouse gases are contributing to global warming.

If politicians truly wanted to make a change to affect energy use, Singer told the Stanford audience, they would have to increase taxes on gasoline, which would decrease use of vehicles. He believes that such taxes would hit people of low income the hardest.

Singer claimed that many businesses, such as the wind farm industry, are making money off the global warming hype. Singer said that it is essential to convince the proponents of global warming that what they are doing is counterproductive and will not make any difference to the climate.

Let's get Singer and Al Gore to an Oxford Union debate...We suspect it would be a "Ross Perot moment" all over again.

from

Some Unexpected Discoveries

2009-01-16T01:41:00.000-08:00

Boy finds watch after it floats 2,900 km from North Pole

Awristwatch buried in the ice at the North Pole three years ago was found by a boy some 2,900 kilometres away after it floated ashore on the Faeroe Islands.

Niels Jakup Mortensen, 11, spotted a black box near his home on Suduroy, the Faeroes’ southernmost island, his mother Anna Jacobsen said. Inside, she said, was a watch that had been buried at the North Pole by Joergen Amundsen, a descendant of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

Jacobsen said the watch, discovered by her son earlier this month, was still working, and was accompanied by a letter from Joergen Amundsen. “It was so unbelievable,” she said. “It had been buried in the North Pole.”

Hjalmar Hatun, an oceanographer with the Faeroese Fisheries Laboratory, said the watch likely drifted south with one of the chunks of ice that frequently break away at the North Pole and are carried off by ocean currents.

The Faeroes, an 18-island Danish territory, are located halfway between Scotland and Iceland.

Hatun said the ice breaking off is not related to global warming, as the phenomenon was first observed more than 100 years ago. “So in that sense, the fact that objects from the North Pole can drift south is old news,” he said

Man Finds $182,000 hidden in bathroom wall!

The story about a contractor who discovered $182,000 in cash stashed behind a bathroom wall of an 83 year old home. Unfortunately, the money did not last too long.

While renovating homeowner and high school friend Amanda Reece’s house, Kitts found green metal boxes hidden behind a bathroom wall, labelled to return to ‘P. Dunne News Agency’. In the lockboxes were $182,000 in depression era currency, belonging to wealthy businessman Patrick Dunne.

Kitts told Reece about the cash, who rushed home and they counted a hefty $182,000. But out of greed on both parts, they were unable to negotiate a reasonable split. Kitts wanted 40%, but Reece did not want to give him more than 10%. So Reece took the matter to court, who decided in her favour.

A month after testifying in court, the Dunne family sued her for the money, splitting it between 21 descendants of Patrick Dunne.

Investors have commented that $182,000 worth of mint notes from the 1920s would probably be worth close to a million dollars.

5th-Grader Finds a Mistake at the Smithsonian Museum

Is fifth-grader Kenton Stufflebeam smarter than the Smithsonian?
Since the Smithsonian opened in 1981, millions of people have passed a display involving prehistoric time. Nobody ever reported anything amiss with the exhibit until 11-yr-old Kenton Stufflebeam noticed that a notation identified the Precambrian as an era.

Kenton, was the first person to ever spot that the famous museum had identified the Precambrian as an era. Kenton had noticed the error because his teacher had almost made the same mistake during an earth-science lesson. Of course everyone knows that the Precambrian is actually a dimensionless unit of time. Well, everyone except for the countless dimwits who visited the Smithsonian.

12-year-old finds iPhone flaw while texting girlfriend

A 12-year-old boy who uses his iPhone mostly for texting with his girlfriend has discovered what looks like a new vulnerability with the device.

“Thus all I need to do to intercept the messages from his girlfriend is to place the phone in emergency mode and wait 30 seconds for the next sickly sweet message,”

The unnamed boy, son of blogger Karl Kraft, turns on the passcode lock and disables SMS Preview in order to prevent his parents from seeing any messages, Kraft wrote on his blog.

Those settings block the display of incoming text messages and show an alert saying ‘New Text Message’ if a text comes through while the phone is locked. However, if the phone is set to emergency call mode the incoming text messages are previewed.

Woman Finds Painting Near Dumpster, It’s Now Worth $1,000,000

It’s hardly a place you would expect to find a $1 million painting. But one March morning four years ago, Elizabeth Gibson was on her way to get coffee, as usual, when she spotted a large and colorful abstract canvas nestled between two big garbage bags in front of the Alexandria, an apartment building on the northwest corner of Broadway and 72nd Street in Manhattan.
“I had a real debate with myself,” said Ms. Gibson, a writer and self-professed Dumpster diver. “I almost left it there because it was so big, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘Why are you taking this back to your crammed apartment?’”

But, she said, she felt she simply had to have the 38-by-51-inch painting, because “it had a strange power.”

Experts say the painting is in miraculously good condition and worth about $1 million
Art experts would agree with her. As it turns out, the painting was “Three People,” a 1970 canvas by the celebrated 20th-century Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo that was stolen 20 years ago and is the subject of an F.B.I. investigation.

Ms. Gibson said she did not suspect that the painting had any commercial value when she found it. “I am not a modern-art aficionado,” she said. “It was so overpowering, yet it had a cheap frame.”

The painting had been missing for so long that the owners, a married couple whom Sotheby’s would not identify, had long since given up hope of ever seeing it again. The husband, a Houston collector and businessman, had purchased “Three People” at a Sotheby’s auction in 1977 as a birthday present for his wife. He paid $55,000 for it.

Ten years later, when the couple were in the midst of moving from a house to an apartment in Houston, they put the painting into storage at a local warehouse. It was there that it disappeared.

How “Three People” got from a Houston warehouse 20 years ago to the streets of New York remains a mystery.

Woman googles her fiancée, finds him on America’s Most Wanted

A five-year hunt for a man accused of killing a police informant in Phoenix ended in Toronto’s west end this weekend thanks to a “courageous” young woman who turned in her boyfriend.

Mikhail Drachev, 24, who has been on the run since the “horrific” slaying of Konstantin Simberg in December 2001, was arrested by police Friday in the Rexdale apartment the pair had been sharing for more than five years.

“About a week ago, he decided to come clean and give her his real name because they were thinking about marriage,” Staff-Sgt. Paul MacIntyre said yesterday. “She Googled his name and learned he was in fact on America’s Most Wanted.”

The fugitive’s girlfriend, whose name was not released, was initially “conflicted,” MacIntyre said. Although it took her a week to tell police, she eventually “did the right thing” and should be commended, he said.

“She was with this fellow for a long time, and obviously they were very close,” MacIntyre said. “The fact that she came in to a (police) station and told us who he was, I think, showed tremendous courage on her behalf.”

Drachev and two other men are accused of attacking Simberg, 21, while he was on the phone with a cop. He was stabbed in the back, doused with gas and set ablaze.

Car Thief Finds Explosives, Thwarts Potential Terror Plot

He’s a criminal, but he “did the right thing” when it mattered - alerting cops to what he feared was a terror plot the day before the Fourth of July.

He was stunned when he looked inside - it was filled with gas cans and Styrofoam cups containing a mysterious white substance with protruding wires and switches.

The street is lined with brownstones, and there’s a ballet studio and a small Muslim school. So he drove the van 15 blocks to 37th Street and parked it at a desolate waterfront location behind the Costco store and next to some little-used piers.

Then he got out and called a cop he knows from his run-ins with the law.

“He did the right thing,” a high-ranking officer said. “And he possibly saved a lot of people’s lives.”

Another source said cops are unlikely to file charges for the break-in.

Man Buys Farm, Finds forgotten collection of 180 classic cars!

It’s the classic automotive fairy tale; buy a farmhouse that has been abandoned for 15 years only to find a shed full of vintage cars.

Imagine you’re Ali Baba, stumbling on the 40 Thieves’ treasure — only the thieves are long gone and the treasure is actually 180 European cars of various description.
That’s kind of what happened in this case, where inside a warehouse welded shut for years, a wealth of dusty cars — Jags, Porsches, Lancias, Alfas, Lotuses, Austin Minis, Renaults, open-wheel formula cars, and on and on — sat rusting for over 15 years.
No word yet on who’s claiming the cars, or what will become of them, but we’d imagine there are a few resto shops in Lisbon whose phones are ringing off the hook.

Huge collections like the one in Portugal don’t just happen. Cars are accumulated by someone with a purpose

The owner of the cars was a car dealer in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to save the more interesting cars that came through his doors. When the barn was full, he padlocked and “soldered” the doors shut. (Perhaps welding was too permanent.)

Web sites varied on the number of cars: 58, 100, and 180 were speculated. Unfortunately none of the cars is for sale.

Dolphins Walk on Water in the Wild

2009-01-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

A group of wild dolphins living in waters along the south Australian coast near Adelaide have stunned scientists and researchers, teaching members of the group to walk on their tails — a behavior typically only seen after training in captivity.

‘Tail-walking’ is a trick that dolphins perform using their powerful tails to rise vertically from the water and drive themselves forwards or backwards.

Billie — a female bottlenose dolphin in the group — spent several weeks in captivity at a local dolphinarium in the 1980’s in a rescue effort to recover from malnutrition and sickness after being trapped in a marina lock, and may have seen other dolphins performing tail walking during her short stay.

The scientists studying the group believe that Billie may be teaching the tail-walking — a behavior never before seen in the wild — on to other females in her group as a form of ‘culture.’

“I have observed all the local dolphins over a number of years, and have watched Billie occasionally performing tail-walks in the years since her release, sometimes in the bow wave of large ships, which is an awesome sight!” said Dr. Mike Bossley from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) in Australia, one of the scientists that’s been monitoring the group on the Port River estuary.

“About 5 years ago another female dolphin called Wave began performing the same behavior, but does so with much greater regularity than Billie. A 3rd adult female dolphin has also been seen tail-walking.”

“We can’t for the life of us work out why they do it.” Dr. Bossley added.

The scientists are attempting to figure out whether the behavior might be a form of play or communication, and whether it’s likely other members of the dolphin group will inherit the tail walking talent.

“We’re doing systematic observations now to determine if there’s something that may trigger it, but so far we haven’t found anything.”

“This indicates that they do learn from each other, which is not a surprise really, but it does also seem that they exhibit elements of what in humans we would call ‘cultural’ behavior.” said Dr Bossley.

“These are things that groups develop and are passed between individuals and that come to define those groups, such as language or dancing, and it would seem that among the Port River dolphins we may have an incipient tail-walking culture.”

Top 10: Horniest Countries

2009-01-14T08:44:00.000-08:00

Think you get it on as much as a porn star? It may depend on where you live. According to a 2008 Durex sex survey, only 53% of Americans have sex once a week, while 55% of British and 59% of Canadians admit the same. Ouch. So, who is rocking the most beds in the world? Check out our top 10 list of the horniest countries to find out.

We’ve ranked these top 10 horniest countries in line with the same Durex survey rankings. So, the higher a country appears on the list, the more of its citizens are having sex -- which means at least once a week. Just to make it on this list of top 10 horniest countries, three-quarters of a country has to be going at it regularly. Embarrassingly, Canada and the U.S. don’t make the cut. The good news: If you want to flee your sex-starved nation for these horny ones, we’ve given you pickup spots where you can start to improve your country’s rank.

No.10 - Mexico

Want to take a sexy siesta? Meet people of the sun and fun in our No. 10 horniest country. Mexicans kick off our list of boot-knocking peoples, and they start from an early age. In fact, in May of 2008 Mexico City's government distributed 700,000 copies of sex-ed textbooks to deliver to the city's student population, well aware that the kids would be doing the horizontal tango one way or another. And when it comes to sex south of the border, there's always a way. While prostitution is generally illegal in Mexico, it is legal in select cities like Tijuana where sex worker zones are set up for your benefit.

Horny hangouts: A huge spring break getaway, Mexico’s resorts often melt into one giant pickup place. Here are some of the more notable places to go in this horny country: In Cancun, check out the popular bars -- Senor Frogs, Daddy ‘O and Coco Bongo. In Acapulco try Palladium, a huge disco that overlooks several other bars, there's also Baby Lobster Bar and Thai Bar, both of which have a reputation for hot girls. Visiting Cabo San Lucas? Then you definitely need to check out Squid Roe, a popular dance bar flowing with tequila. A few other Cabo San Lucas pickup options include The Zoo and Mango deck. If you're in Puerto Vallarta check out The Zoo (another one) and El Hilo for hot Mexican nights. In Tijuana? Hit up Senor Frogs, Mundo Cafe or Safaris.

No.9 - Switzerland

Sure, they’re politically neutral, but the Swiss definitely have an opinion about sex. That opinion roughly translates to: "Gimme more." Apart from their regular bedroom feats, prostitution is also legal in this horny country. Every year 350,000 Swiss pay their own way for pleasure. With this level of commitment it's no wonder they made our list of top 10 horniest countries.

Horny hangouts: If you're traveling in Zurich, you'll want to check out this popular spot, the Hive Bar or even Ba Ba Lu for loud music and a lively crowd that's sure to make your night one to remember.

No.8 - Spain

In the land of Latin love, sex is a foregone conclusion. Its traditional, sexually charged culture has even gone through a modern update. Recently, it's been reported that Spanish men have turned to our modern-day Spanish fly, Viagra, to please their ladies longer -- even if they are fully capable of the act without the pill. Of course, this little enhancement makes sure they meet their own expectations as well, proving that this is definitely one of the horniest countries around.

Horny hangouts: In Barcelona, visit the seaside club Baja Beach where plenty of women come to see and be seen. Your other bet for hot Spanish nights is Razzmatazz, which is a single club with five different clubs attached to it. Here to party? Ibiza’s got the answer: Just pick a bar, any bar, and you’ll do fine.

No.7 - Malaysia

In public, this country definitely appears conservative. For example, there was a recent controversy over whether sex education should be taught in high school or not -- not exactly sexually liberated. However, behind closed doors lies (pun totally intended) the real story: Malaysians are swinging from the bedposts, and loving every minute of it. Occasionally we'll get a glimpse of it - like when Malaysia's Minister of Health was forced to step down after his homemade sex tapes made the rounds in January of 2008.

Horny hangouts: In Kuala Lumpur, check out these bars and clubs for a straightforward party: Aloha, Poppy Bar or the Rum Jungle. To “choose your own adventure” visit the Beach Club where there’s a good chance a girl comes at a price, but she'll be worth every penny.

No.6 - Italy

Many Italians live la dolce vita with sex high on their list of things to do on a daily basis. A poll found that 32% of Italians over 60 years old have sex regularly. It's unclear if this means seniors are schtupping around the clock or once a week. However, one thing’s clear; their frequency in the sack helped give this country a spot on our list of top 10 horniest countries.

Horny hangouts: Visiting Florence? Check out the Red Garter, a classic American-style bar with an international reputation as a pickup joint. Your second choice should be Moyo, a laid-back club whose volume lets you have a conversation. In Milan, good bets for passionate encounters are Propaganda, a huge nightclub, plus The Shocking Club, a club known for its crazier theme nights. And when in Rome, visit the Drunken Ship, a popular party bar, and don't forget to do it as the Romans do it.

No. 5 - Poland

For a fairly conservative culture, Poland has earned a steamy reputation as one of the horniest countries out there. Poland has an annual Eroticon festival that showcases the latest and greatest sex toys and mechanisms in the adult industry. Even one of Poland's politicians was caught in a sex scandal. However, the most obvious evidence of Poland's hound-dog ways has to be the two Polish women who once held the world gangbang record, which they completed in their home country. Need we explain?

Horny hangouts: If you're going to Warsaw, you'll want to visit Organza, a club with a good share of women. Or for variety check out the two-floor bar Zoo; this bar features plenty of space to party or chat up women. Now Krakow: While you're there go to Cien Klub, described as an institution it’s a big club with lots of girls. Krakow also features Frantic, another two-floor bar and the Goraczka Freak Club, not that kind of “freak,” but a good party place filled with ladies nonetheless.

No.4 - China

The more China’s Cultural Revolution thaws, the more its sexual revolution heats up. Want proof? Just in the past eight years, 5,000 sex shops have opened in Beijing alone. Plus, China even has a SEXPO, where Chinese residents come to check out sex paraphernalia. And with 70% of the world’s sex toys made in China, its horniest country status means that a good deal of their hard work won't have to go very far.

Horny hangouts: If you're visiting Shanghai, you need to check out these better-known spots: Bar Rouge, Zapata’s and Windows. If you're in Beijing, you’ve got a few options: Visit the Sanlitun Lu District, often dubbed “bar street” for all its action. For the tried-and-true joints check out Bar Blu, Suzie Wong and Brown’s, all renowned meat markets. And for your seedier pick you need to head to Maggie’s, a popular nightclub known for its working girls.

No.3 - Russia

Was the Cold War’s biggest secret that the Russians were having more sex than we were? Since the fall of Communism it looks a lot more likely that it actually was. Russian's libidos are inspiring them to fill tons of new Moscow clubs and bars where hookups are a nightly pastime in this horny country.

Horny hangouts: In Moscow, go to The Hungry Duck, a crazy bar that runs ladies' nights with male strippers three times a week, then lets men in the door once the strippers are off stage. Sure, nothing is set in stone, but you’d have to try hard to miss this softball pickup pitch. Other Russian hot spots include Night Flight, where you can pick up Russian girls, and Propaganda, which is better-known for housing tourists rather than locals.

No.2 - Brazil

Considering this is the birthplace of the thong, it makes sense that sex is as essential as breathing in Brazil. This horny country's beaches are filled with gorgeous women and during its annual Carnaval even the most stubborn inhibitions disappear and this destination proves its spot on our top 10 horniest countries list.

Horny hangouts: In Rio, definitely visit the Lapa district. It's a huge party spot, filled with clubs and gyrating women. Other Rio options include the Nuth Bar, a two-story nightclub notorious as a pickup bar, plus Baronetti or Club Six. Up for more adventure? You can negotiate your price openly at Help.

No. 1 - Greece
This country has a long tradition of sex that dates back to ancient times -- these are the guys that brought us pederasty and Sapphic love. With its temperate Mediterranean weather, beaches and tons of islands, Greece’s ingredients make it the No. 1 horniest country in the world.

Horny hangouts: Set aside some time, and plenty of protection, because there are a number of pickup spots throughout the islands and on the mainland. First, in Athens, try out Hoxton in the Gazi district, it's a trendy bar where backpackers are known to hang out. For the islands, Corfu is renowned for its infamous pickup spot, The Pink Palace. And while on the island of Los, check out these bars: Kahlua, Slammer Bar or the Red Bull Bar. Finally, make sure to check out Mykonos, an island known for its partying. While in Mykonos, visit Paradise Beach club that’s set right on, you guessed it, a beach. Paradise Beach is a big hangout, where clothing has been known to occasionally disappear.